Psycho Dice Theory
by AmberXAutopsy
Summary: Is there any limit to the lengths Sheldon will go to make Penny his own. Rewritten.
1. Chapter 1

It is said that Jim Williams once made up a game, it`s whole premise set on the fact that mind control does work.

That you can control the outcome purely by concentration.

Focusing only on the numbers between one and six that you have picked as you throw your dice, leaving the ones with your selected numbers, if any happen to land that way, standing face up as you continue on in this fashion until all four of your numbers are laying on the table top.

The object, to get all your numbers in the fewest throws possible.

The way he figured, considering the number of sides on the dice and the chosen numbers, you have a one in six chance of getting what you're looking for.

The only help you receive in the game, the one life line….to will the dice to roll how you want.

To, in fact, control the actions of the dice with your mind.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Sheldon watched through narrowed eyes as his roommate handed Penny a small white container of food as he pulled it from the paper bag only to then drop it uselessly onto the coffee table that sat in the middle of the group of friends. Leonards dark eyes fixed only on Penny's long, golden hair as she reached out and took it, thanking him with a small, warm smile.

It bit annoyingly at his nerves the way Leonard always jumped at the chance to be the one to buy Penny`s dinner. Always swooping in and offering as soon as she strolled through their door in the evening, not giving anyone else a chance to offer.

Or even verbalize a simple 'Hello' before he was on her, gushing and fawning, pulling her off into a corner or the kitchen to have one of their whispered conversations.

He stabbed his chopsticks into his noodles with unneeded force, his eyes dropping, finding himself wondering if Leonard was, in fact, really that STUPID or just plain rude.

Penny and his relationship had ended months before and, in his mind, that should mean they remained a reasonable distance from each other at all times. No eye contact and having verbal interactions only when socially required.

But, no.

The one thing the Great Sheldon Cooper PHD, had been wrong on.

He found himself, staring on in crudely veiled disgust at the scene before him, watching in an awed, slightly angered state, as Penny`s lips wrapped around Leonard`s fingers, taking the offered chuck of food and licking her lips, stained pink with the strawberry chapstick she always used, a light chuckle escaping her as she caught the bit of broth that dribbled down her seemingly flawless chin.

Letting out a sigh of frustration he shot up out of his seat, standing in place for a moment, watching on before storming passed the couple and making his way to the kitchen, flinging open a nearby cabinet.

The next set of whispers and feminine giggles sent him off the deep end, his jaw setting with a tight snap.

The raw slap of his hands slamming down onto the shiny surface of the counter echoed through the small space of the kitchen as he poked his head into the next row of cabinets.

"While we`re on the subject of Leonard's annoying habits-" he suddenly snapped, only to be interrupted by his roommates calm, uninterested voice.

"I don't think any of us were talking about 'Leonard's annoying habits." Leonard stated, not seeming to miss a beat as he stared over through glazed eyes at the beautiful blonde beside him.

Sheldon felt his jaw clench further at his blasé tone.

'Why Leonard….you certainly are feeling froggy, aren`t you.'

Alright.

He could play that game too.

"Well I was." He replied. "And I out rank all of you." He waved a thin hand in his friends general direction before pulling out a small box of tea bags and gently closing the cabinet behind him. "Stop reorganizing the kitchen." He glanced over his shoulder to the man in the glasses. "It's a bother."

"You are the only one I think it bothers, Sheldon."

"Exactly."

A thick, awkward silence settled in the room as they continued eating, Sheldons eyes glancing up every now and then, landing on Penny, her deep green eyes staring down into her food, feeling his empty, uneasy stomach clench as her lips wrapped around her chopsticks, drawing them almost purposely deep into her mouth.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Raj lean into Howard, whispering quickly into his ear before pulling away.

"Raj wants to know why you seem so tense." Howard relayed, rolling his eyes, seeming all to done with his friends debilitating shyness.

"I am not tense." Sheldon answered quickly, his voice dulling, taking on it's normal, almost monotone, drawl. "I am simply irritated. I do not see why people always mistake my emotions."

He was met with four sets kf eyes staring over at him when he looked back up, feeling his eyebrows pull together in a curious way.

"Seriously." Leonard said, looking up at Sheldon with an mocking expression.

"What?"

"It's just...strange hearing that from you, Moonpie." Penny's voice said, her tone almost apologetic as he drew his eyes towards her. "That wasn't nice Leonard."

"I was just-"

"Pay no mind, Penny. I'm sure Leonard has a well thought out and feasible excuse." He found himself interrupting, setting the half filled teapot down without thought onto the counter and making his way into the short hall.

For the first time in years he was angry.

He was through with this dictatorship from Leonard when it came to Penny, always hovering around her like a hungry buzzard.

Tired of not even being an OPTION in Penny's opinion.

"If you'll excuse me," Sheldon said as he exited, making his way to his room. "But, I think I will be retiring for yhe night."

"You're not playing Halo with us?" Howard called after him.

"I guess he isn't has worried about his 'schedule' as he as he always lets on." He heard his roommate chuckle as he shut his door with a low click.

xxxxxxxxx

"Hello, Mother." Sheldon greeted as her screen blinked on.

"Hi, darling." Her familiar voice said as she straightened her robe, pulling it tight against her.

"Did I wake you?" He questioned, taking in all the obvious signs she was giving off that told him he had indeed.

"No...not exactly."

He felt his expression drop, his cheeks warming from the thought of having interrupted her during a most intimate time, blinking away the unwanted, unsettling images that flooded into his mind.

"I called this evening," he continued after a clearing of his throat. "To tell you that I will indeed be attending this year's Christmas celebrations."

"Why, that's wonderful, Shelly." His mother said, sitting back in her chair as if in disbelief. "The family will be pleased. It has been years...may I ask what changed your mind?"

"You may...but that doesn't mean I have to answer." He replied, watching his mother raise an eyebrow disapprovingly.

"Sheldon."

He sighed and dropped his head, suddenly feeling as if he were a baby again, waiting for college just to escape the ever lasting torture that is his family.

The longest twelve years of his life.

"I am attending this year so that you may meet my girlfriend."

"I have already met Amy, Sheldon." She said in reply.

"No, Amy and I are no longer together." He corrected, wondering if his mother could smell his bluff as she had always claimed she could. "I've met someone new."

"Oh..." she trailed off, measuring his expression for a moment before continuing. "...what's her name. It is a girl, right Shelly?"

"Mother."

"I was just checking, Sheldon." She quickly answered in her defense. "Mothers can never be too sure anymore."

He heard a long sigh escape from his lungs as he moved his eyes away from the screen, casting them heavenward before continuing.

"To answer your original question...her name is Penny."

xxxxxxxxx

'Maybe I haven't thought this through adequately...'

That thought hit him in the head like a ten ton boulder as he laid in bed that night, having just got over telling himself how ingenious and unfailing his plan surely was.

All he needed was to get Penny away from Leonard, all their friends and place her into a city where she knew absolutely nothing and no one.

Besides him of course.

That way, he could be the hero.

Her guide.

Her protector as they made their way through the long, scorching streets of Texas.

Basically, by being the only familiar figure around her, he came to the conclusion that he could invoke all the pleasant memories of Pasadena to come to mind whenever she saw him.

In turn, causing her feel that Sheldon was her home.

That he was her, for lack of better words, salvation.

All the math had made sense in his fury stricken brain, coming together like unseen pieces to a puzzle suddenly falling into place.

But now, laying in the quiet stillness of the night, it all seemed rather...ludicrous.

He shook his head, rolling his eyes over the popcorn ceiling above him.

It was too late to go back now. The wheels had already been set in motion full force, and now, all he had to do was make sure it was a smooth ride and hope that Penny didn't prove to be a bump in the road.

He felt the sudden sting if unexpected terror as he realized he had to get Penny to go along with him.

Which, involved another lie.

Feeling drained he turned onto his side and forced his eyes closed.

Whatever the consequences, he had to try.

He was done with playing second fiddle to a wash up like Leonard.

He WAS going to roll the dice in his favor, all he had to do...was concentrate.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you for all the follows/favorites and wonderful reviews :) they mean a lot.

xxxxxxx

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Penny.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Penny.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

Penny.

Penny looked up from the book resting on her knees, casting her eyes over to her door, set ajar, the bright yellow fabric of an all to familiar 'Flash' t-shirt showing against the harsh hallway lights.

"It's open." She called, snapping her book shut and sitting up.

She heard him sigh, it was a long, exasperated kind of noise.

Like she was REALLY that hard to deal with.

"Have you ever saw a horror movie?" His voice firm as he finally pushed the door open, making his way in before closing it softly behind him. "You never say 'it's open'." He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, his fingers tapping against his lean upper arms. "Out of the few I've seen whoever says that inevitably dies. Much like the person who hears a noise and idioticly goes looking for the intruder calling 'who's there'."

She could help the small smile that creeped across her face, pulling the corners of her lips up.

"Not a fan of horror movies, are you Moonpie?" Her voice was pleasant as she watched her neighbor stroll around her living room, looking down his nose disapprovingly at the stray clothes and unwashed dishes thrown haphazardly around.

"I find them grating and unnecessarily terrifying." He stated, pausing his words as his eyes dropped, his light gaze meeting hers. "And don't call me Moonpie. Only my meemaw calls me that."

"Why does only your 'Meemaw' get the pleasure?" She found herself asking, basking in the glow of the stunned expression on his face as he stared down at her. "Aren't I special?"

"Well...I...you're..." he said, seeming to almost trip over his own words until he trailed off, dropping silent as he stared down at her, his jaw dropping open as if to continue only to snap back up and clench in place.

she watched in astonishment, his eyes bouncing uncomfortably from her face to the wall, his gaze raking over her lips before it was cast away.

"Because...she is the one who came up with it." He concluded, his voice tight, words rushed.

Penny shook her head, chucking her book onto her coffee table as he stood, watching with a sense of dark amusement as Sheldon teetered back and forth on his heels, eyes still set away from her as he studied the wall beside him.

Scowling as if her brightly colored wall had suddenly become the most amazing and interesting thing in the world.

She had always loved making Sheldon uncomfortable.

She knew it might be cruel, to torture a man who was so out of touch with his feelings as Sheldon was, but...the blush that always splayed across the cheeks and ears was just so...

...endearing.

It made him look almost human.

"Well," Penny continued suddenly, tearing her eyes from Sheldons profile and stuffing her hands down into her pockets. "I know you well enough not to mistake this for a social visit, so...what can I do for you, sweetie? You need a ride to work?"

"No, thank you though. But you are correct to assume I have came here for a reason." He paused, and, though she couldn't be sure, she could have sworn he saw him take a deep breath, swallowing visibly before continuing. "Have you made any plans for Christmas this year?

"Uhh...no, actually." She smiled, her head tilting to the side as her shoulders rose and fell in a shrug, almost missing Sheldons eyes dropping, running along the small strip of skin that appeared as her shirt rose with her movements. "Why do you ask...?"

She scowled internally, wondering if she had really saw what you just thought she did, only to check it off as withdrawals from her recent cold streak in the dating category.

Single life can be a cold hearted bitch.

"Sweetie?" She asked, her tone questioning when he didn't answer.

He cleared his throat, lowering his head closer to her level as he dropped his eyes to meet hers.

Those blue, almost icy eyes that, at times, seemed to slice straight through you.

"I was curious to if you would like to accompany me to my family's this year. They hold a ridiculously large party every year...the entire block comes and invades my mother's home." He shook his head almost sadly. "It is a terrible night."

"Then...why do you wanna go again? You know...sense you think it's that bad." She couldn't stop from asking.

He shrugged, his head dropping slightly, not saying a word.

The silence grew as did the urge to hug the tall man that stood before her, now more closely resembling a lost little boy than the brilliant Physicist she knew him to be.

"I think that it is time I go home. As much as I try to deny it, I know my mother misses me."

Penny nodded her head slowly, letting his confession sink in and echo weakly in her mind, the smile of her face warming.

"That is a wonderful idea, Sheldon." Penny encouraged, her voice gentle as her hand extended out. "That's very mature of you."

Sheldon jerked his arm away out of her reach as her fingers landed against his surprisingly warm skin, dropping it down to hang tensely at his side.

"Well...I am a very mature person." He replied quietly, shifting his eyes away once more.

Penny nodded in reply as she turned, trying to hide the smug smile that plastered itself across her face as she made her way into the kitchen.

Yes, Sheldon was very mature...in his own special way.

Mature in the sense he could solve almost any equation forward and backwards, a skill he never let slide by without acknowledgement, before Penny could even start her dishwasher, and the fact he could spit out fancy, college level words without a second thought.

Not so much in the sense he flew off the handle if anyone happened to touch one of his 'vintage' comic books without the special gloves heh ad stores in his dresser, or, more to the point, that he had almost an entire wall in his room covered with shelves solely designed, by him, for his vast collection of comics.

"You want a drink, sweetie?" She asked, pulling the already opened cork from the sweating bottle of wine she took from her fridge. "It's not boxed."

The look on his face made it clear he saw no difference. That he didn't care if it was cheap wine poured from a bottle or even cheaper wine sealed in a box.

Wine was wine in his opinion.

Nasty, unneeded, and a waste of money.

"No." He said simply, making his way over to her table, sitting down, uncomfortably, in one of the stools. "Shouldn't you wait until you've given my invitation a proper thought before you inebriate yourself?"

She shot him a look, raising her glass up to her lips and taking a long, slow drink just to irritate him further, smacking her lips like she knew he hated at the end, watching as his eye twitched and his hands balled into fists against the table top.

"I've already given it 'a proper thought', Sheldon." She said, setting her glass down with a small twang, lifting her eyes to meet his. "I'll come. I mean...if it'll help you feel more comfortable...I really can't say no, can I."

"Well, you could." He replied, lacing his fingers together, his eyebrows lifting as he watched her tilt her head, leaning across the island as she drew close to him.

"You don't say...?"

"Sarcasm?"

She laughed, a small twinkling sound that seem to reverberate through the small combined space of the kitchen and living area. "Yes, Sheldon."

"Drat." He almost groaned, the sound foreign, unexpected for Penny to hear from him.

"When do we leave?" She asked, breaking up his pity party, causing him to look up.

He shifted in his seat, his pink tongue poking from between his lips, not enough to assume he was giving her a raspberry, but just enough to draw Penny's attention as he pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket and setting it out smoothly in front of her.

"We leave tomorrow at six." He read, running a lean finger along the gentle ink strokes that swirled across the blindingly white surface of the paper.

"It's funny, the 'P' in the P.M looks a lot like an 'A'."

"...that's because it is an 'A'." He replied in a cautious tone, sounding unsure of whether or not she was kidding or actually serious. "We are scheduled for the 8:25 A.M flight to Dallas...it's common knowledge to be there two hours early, and, factoring in the time to pack the car and make our way to the airport, barring the roads being bad-"

"Six A.M it is!" I butted in, forcing a smile onto my face as I slide the paper from under his fingers, glancing down in disbelief at the utter organization he had laid out.

Meal times, break times, times to arrive at the gate, times to leave the gate...

'He even has bathroom breaks scheduled.' She thought incredulously, shaking her head.

"What's wrong?" Sheldon asked, obviously watching as she took in his plan of action. "Did I leave out a womanly function? Your time of the month isn't for another two weeks if that's what your worried about."

I decided to let that slide, not really feeling up to having the same argument for the bazillionth time.

"What if I have to pee at 7:25 instead of 7:38? Is there any...leeway?"

A small smile crosses Sheldons lips as he found humor somewhere in my serious question.

"For you?" He answered. She felt herself being drawn to him as his voice dropped, leaning cross the counter and turning her eyes to look up at the genius that towered above her, both physically and mentally, his warm, minty breath fanning across her face in a way she couldn't help but wonder if his lips would also. "Always."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Truely humbled by all the follows/favorites and the kind words! It makes the sore fingers and headaches worth it! Shenny forever! :)

xxxxxxxx

"Hello?" Penny's voice was froggy, eyes still shut having been woken up, unpleasantly, by the shrill scream of her voice, lighting up and vibrating on her night stand.

"Hey, bestie." Amy's familiar voice said on the other line. "How did you sleep?"

"I wasn't finished yet." She mumbled in reply, glancing at her alarm clock, the time snapping her mind into overdrive, bolting up in bed and casting her eyes around the darkened room.

'5:30...shit!'

"I'm sorry to have woken you, but I have just gotten off the phone with Sheldon."

"Oh yeah?" Penny rushed, only half listening as she dashed around her room, yanking her closet doors open in one fatal swoop, starting to pick through her over populated clothes rack.

"He said he's going to Texas for the holidays." Her voice dropped, as if telling some sort of coveted secret.

"Yeah, didn't he ask you?" She replied, pulling out a handful of hangers, and throwing them onto her bed with a soft thump.

"No." She said simply. "He just now let me know."

Penny dropped her arms, the shirt she had been holding up against her, staring at her reflection in the mirror, falling lightly against her calf.

"I thought..." she trailed off, her eyebrows pulling together as she stared out her windows at the city lights that blinked slowly off and on.

"That's okay. We can have girls night." Amy concluded, a smile ringing in her voice. "I realized we haven't had one in a while."

"Oh..." Penny breathed, her stomach tightening as she realized that Sheldon hadn't even asked Amy.

'How could he do that!' She stormed in her mind, feeling the warm bubble of anger roll into her veins.

Did Sheldon have no common sense at all?!

How could he just totally disregard his own girlfriend like and not even seem to feel the slightest bit bad about it?!

"Penny?" Amy asked, drawing Penny out of her head. "Are you there, bestie?"

"Uh...yeah." she heard herself answer, pinching the bridge of her nose as she seriously debated whether or not to cancel on Sheldon. Both out of anger and that hope that, maybe, he would ask Amy to go. "I'm, uh...actually going out of town too. I'm sorry..."

"Oh..." her voice was devastated, dropping even further until it was almost non-existent. "Where are you going?"

She hated lying to her friend.

It almost felt like she was sneaking around with Sheldon behind Amy's back.

'As if.'

"To my dad's." She answered in an breezy tone, hoping to God it sounded like the truth. "It's his first Christmas sense the divorce."

'Oh great, Penny. Make the lie even MORE extravagant.'

"Well...I hope you have fun. Though, I have to admit, it will be oddly quiet without my two favorite people in town."

"Sorry..." she said again, wrinkling her nose, suddenly feeling very dirty and disgusting.

"No, no." Her friend replied, the happy tone in her voice forced and weak. "I understand."

Silence.

"Well...I should get going..." Penny said, her soft voice penetrating the silence that had settled around them. "My flights in a few hours..."

"Yes." Was all she said. "Of course."

Penny stared at the phone that was nestled in her hand for a moment after Amy's line clicked off, feeling worse and worse as thoughts of how wrong all this was flooded her mind.

"What have I gotten myself into..."

xxxxxxxxx

He had been standing outside her door for almost seven minutes, head bowed as he stared at his watch, raising his eyes every now and then, turning his gaze to the peep hole, meeting hers.

Making her almost feel as if he knew she was pressed against the other side, watching.

Sighing, she pushed away, walking the short distance across the room to her suitcase, settling herself down on its pink, coarse top, staring straight ahead at the door.

xxxxxxxxx

'Knock, Knock, Knock'

Penny.

'Knock, Knock, Knock'

Penny.

'Knock, Knock, Knock'

Penny.

He had always loved how Penny waited until he was done to open the door. Always with a smile and a greeting of some sort, not seeming the least bit perturbed by this 'OCD' like ritual.

It was one of the things he most admired her for.

Her seemingly undieing ability to put up with him and all his, what his friends called, quirks.

But, this morning, as she flung open the door, there was no smile.

No 'Good mornin', sweetie'.

"Excuse me." She all but hissed as she pushed her suitcase out into the hall, pushing Sheldon out of the way as she shut her door, locking it behind her, her eyes cast down when she turned back towards him.

"Ready?"

She didn't wait for a response.

Just picked up her case by the handle and started down the stairs, leaving her neighbor behind her, staring, in a state of clueless shock.

Sheldon watched Penny struggle for two flights, inwardly cringing every time her suitcase slipped from her hands, clattering from her neatly polished fingers and slamming down onto the landing below, causing a rather loud crash to echo around them.

"Would you like some help?" He finally gathered up enough courage to ask, sliding up to glance over her tanned shoulder, trying to meet her eyes, which were, for some reason, turned away.

"I got this, Sheldon." Her answer was brisk, almost cold as she plowed ahead.

"No, I don't believe you have 'got this'." He said, hurrying down after her. "I believe what you 'got' is down there, currently bouncing down yet another flight of stairs. So please, let me help you or we will never leave the building."

"I don't need your help, Sheldon! God." She snapped, reaching down to pick up her belongings once more, only to pull back up straight, a light curse falling from her lips, one of her fingers poking into her mouth. "Fuck..."

"Okay, this is done." He shot forward, scooping up her case and slipping it under his arm as he continued down. "Just because you are cross at me for some unknown reason doesn't mean you need to hurt yourself to prove a point, Penny. That's not spite. It's stupidity."

He could feel her eyes boring into his back as he walked, but chose to ignore it.

She was being silly and childish and he wanted no part of it.

It was times like these, actually, that made him wonder why he even bothered with her.

"Sense when did you start caring so much whether I hurt myself or not?"

That question was like a stab in his heart, causing his feet to still, not so long that it caused a collision with Penny, but long enough that she definitely had to have noticed.

"You hurting yourself would throw off our schedule." He said over his shoulder, restarting his pace. "Or worse, would prevent you from going at all-

Sheldon was interrupted by a scoff, being jerked suddenly to the side as Penny shoved past him, mumbling something about a 'meal ticket'.

Once again, leaving him to stare.

'Oh Penny...you are so much more then a meal ticket...'

xxxxxxxxx

The doors locked as soon as they pulled into a parking spot in the airports lot, his hand, wrapping around its handle, stopping as he turned to look at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, a dark panic rising inside his mind as the seconds trickled by, slowly, almost mockingly, setting his schedule further and further off track. "We need to get to the baggage check."

"Why didn't you ask Amy to come, Sheldon?" Penny asked, acting as if he hadn't even spoken, orb want heard him. "She is your girlfriend after all."

She could act however she wanted, but he very well knew she had heard and was just choosing to ignore him.

And that fact alone drove him wild.

Not with anger or annoyance...but, something else.

Something that he wasn't too sure what it was.

"She called you."

It wasn't a question.

His eyes narrowed, turning out the windshield.

That woman...drained him to his very last nerve.

"She didn't even know you were going to Texas until this morning!" Penny all but yelled, turning in her seat to face him, her eyebrows pulling together as her face scrunched in the most adorably angry way.

It took all of Sheldons will power and concentration to stay silent and not blurt out his feelings for her right then.

"I wasn't even aware of this on coming situation until last night. I had various tasks to complete and plan and pack and schedule." He replied calmly. "I don't see the need to inform my ex 'girlfriend' of my where about's and coming and goings 24/7, Penny. You, of all people, should understand."

"Ex...girlfriend?"

Sheldon sighed inwardly, the will to be annoyed evading him.

Why must she get hung up on one word and forget the other fifty.

'But, that's what makes Penny, Penny, I suppose.'

"Yes. Ex. Did she not mention that?"

He watched as Penny shook her head, her eyes wide and disbelieving.

"But...why?" She breathed. "You two were like...perfect together."

'And we would be even better...'

"There were private problems. Late night quarrels no one knew about." He shook his head, trying to act how he supposed a broken hearated man would. "We were never as perfect as you seem to think."

She nodded slowly, Sheldons hands tightened in his lap as her eyes dropped, raising back up seconds later, meeting his with such an intense, burning gaze it nearly knocked him breathless.

"Is...that all?" Her voice was but a breath as she spoke, her penetrating gaze still set on him.

He shifted uncomfortably, licking his lips as he tried to break her stare, reaching behind him blindly as he searched for the door handle.

"Penny...I-"

"Oh my God!" She suddenly gasped, dragging him from his daze, realizing her eyes had shifted from him to the small neon numbers that shown against the otherwise dark dashboard. "We gotta go! C'Mon!"

For a moment Sheldon couldn't move, just staying in place, watching through hooded eyes Penny shoved her door open, bouncing from the car before slamming it loudly behind her.

Hem couldn't help the feeling that she had been hinting at something.

Looking for an answer she wasn't sure she would get.

'Maybe she...'

He shook his head, discarding the probability.

But, one thing he was slowly coming to realize...this experiment may not be so easy to complete.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks again for everything! :D This chapter may not be as good as all the others and I feel that Penny and Sheldon are kinda OOC, but I hope you still enjoy it and promise for the next to be better. Usually write in first person so if there`s any screw ups that`s why :)

ontheledge: It was Sheldon who said we would be even better, it was in his head though. And, I don`t know if you were asking this, but, the reason Penny left with Sheldon after lying to Amy wasn`t meant as her being bitchy at all. She just knew (or thought) that without her Sheldon wouldn`t go and knows that he should see his family. She didn`t want to take the chance of her bailing and him not asking Amy and just staying home. Sorry if this was unnecessary. :)

BreathlessFaith: I don`t think Amy would ever believe she and Sheldon were no longer together :)

xxxxxxxxx

"See? Drifting from schedule evry now and then isnt so bad sometimes." Penny quipped, bucking her seat belt before turning towards him, her smile fading as her eyes rolled over the deep frown that creased his face.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, Penny." He answered, his voice almost scolding as he waved over a stewardess that was peeking through the curtains at the passengers. "I was not built for such activities." His eyes were locked on the tall burnette that was slowly making her way over, an overly happy smile stuck on her tanned face. "My heart is still not back to normal."

"Hiya!" she greeted seconds later as she stopped in the aisle, leasning over Penny`s seat towards Sheldon. "My names Sydney. What can I get for y'all?"

Penny`s eyes narrowed.

'Who the hell does this woman think she is?'

There was no 'Y'all' to 'Sydney' Penny realized, her dark eyes never leaving the man by Penny`s side, the man who was currently oblivious to everything as he stared down at the small, rectangular sheet of paper the woman had handed him, nearly bonking Penny in the head in the process.

'I might as well be a slab of beef tucked into the crevice of the seat.' she though bitterly. But, even then, she`d probably get more attention.

"Water." Sheldon said, finally ordering after staring down at that damned piece of paper for what seemed like ages. "Unopened. No ice."

"Right away, sir."

'Sydney' replied, flashing one last smile over her shoulder as she made her way back down the small walkway to the kitchen.

"Running really isn`t that bad for you." Penny said in a tight voice, choosing to pick up the perviously dropped conversation instead of dealing with the odd twitch of jealously clenching painfully in her stomach. Was she really that starved for attention and affection that she was getting upset about a woman flirting with Sheldon?

'Dear lord...'

"For someone who hasn`t ran but...maybe seven times in his entire life, all of which were away from the neighbor kids, I can`t fathom it being beneficial." he replied in a calm tone, obviously not noticing the death glare he was reciving from the blonde woman at his side. "We wouldn`t have been late if you hadn`t had to stop to eat."

"Well, maybe you`d have a girlfriend of you weren`t so goddamn BORING!" Penny snapped, watching Sheldon`s head turn out of the corner of her eye. "Water. Unopened. No ice. I mean REALLY?!"

Silence dropped around them as a scowl set onto Penny`s reddening face.

For a moment, he just stared, a slight scowl marring his usually blank expression as his gaze ran over her profile, leaving a long, hot feeling on his her skin where ever his eyes touched.

"You`re jealous." he concluded, sounding oddly happy. As if he had just solved world hunger or figured out one of those crazy doodles he called 'Theories' that were always scribbled out on the whiteboard in his living room.

xxxxxxxxx

He watched her head whirl around to look at him, her eyes wide, mouth hanging open slightly.

Either from shock or anger.

The latter being the most likely probability he figured.

But, nonetheless, the fear that shown in her widened eyes and the light blush that the haltingly creeping up her neck and cheeks told him everything he needed to know.

That he was right.

He watched her stutter, her tongue darting out to wet her lips nervously as her light eyebrows arched. "I am not!" her voice was high, almost a squeak when she answered. He sighed, turning his head away as he spoke.

"You`re lying." he said simply, bending over and reaching into his bag, pulling out his laptop and setting on the small table he pulled down from the seat before him.

"Why would I be jealous?!" she snapped again, getting irritated he assumed. He felt her eyes on him as he shrugged, boring holes into his skin.

"Because I am a suitable mate." His mouth burned as he said those words, his ears heating up as his stomach tightened, suddenly feeling very exposed and vulnerable.

"In what WORLD are you a suitable mate for me?!" she yelled, causing the passerby`s to turn their heads in their direction, looking down in confusion and what he took to be pity. "We are nothing alike!"

He crossed his arms, sitting back in the cushioned seat, trying to hide the wounds her words just sliced into him, shoving down any and all emotion that was trying to claw it`s way to the surface. "Please don`t be so dramatic, Penny." he said in a soft, hesitant voice. "It`s just your basic instincs. I assumed that`s what made you date Leonard. Was I mistaken?"

His eyes turned to Penny in time to see her staring over at him with a kind of expression he assumed he would have if told the Earth was flat. Utter disbelief and absurdity.

"Okay," she said, shaking her head slowly and sitting back, turning her eyes ahead blankly. "This conversation is over."

"Very well." That was all he said before he turned his attention back to his laptop, starting to type on an unneeded task, not fully seeing the words as his mind wandered, a sensation of self pity taking over at the thought that this may have all been a waste.

'Maybe you can`t control the outcome purely by concentration...'

He stopped typing and just stared down at his keyboard for a moment before turning his eyes over to Penny now reclined in her seat, eyes closed, headphones plugged into her ears. His eyes took advantage of her distracted state, caressing over her sun kissed skin and flowing blonde hair, sliding down her neck and landing on the bit of skin that peek out along the collar of her lightly colored shirt.

'No!' he decided, setting his jaw and moving his head to look out the small window beside him.

This WAS going to work.

He NEEDED this to work.

He was not going to let someone like Penny defeat him in a battle of wits.

He was going to succeed, Even if it killed him.

She WAS going to be his.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: There might be some misplaced periods and things like that because I wrote this chapter on my phone. I proof read it twice but Things like that always slip by me. I will most likely edit this in the morning on the computer but, until then, ENJOY! :)**

**xxxxxxxxx **

"Damn." She mumbled, slapping the magazine in her hands down onto her lap, head tilting to the side towards Sheldon.

She felt bad.

His face was relaxed, almost childlike as he slept, having passed out moments after taking off. His chest rose and fell steadily with his deep even breatths, his fingers turning white as he gripped the arm rest between them.

Right then...he looked so helpless.

So lonely.

Her eyebrows pulled up as she thought back to all the cruel, unneeded things she had said, replaying the hurt that shown in his eyes even when his face remained drawn.

He had been nice enough to invite her along, even if it was fir his benefit in the long run. But, it did show that he trusted her and enjoyed her company.

'I'm such a bitch.' She cursed herself, shoving her seat up into the sitting position. 'What is wrong with me! I probably just made him a million times more scared and nervous.'

She shook her head, disgusted in herself, as she unbuckled her seatbelt and stood, stepping out into the aisle before she stop to look back at her adorably nerdy neighbor, still asleep in the seat next to hers.

'Oh what the hell. How many chances does a person get to cuddle with Sheldon Cooper.'

Slipping back into her seat she cradled his hand in hers as she lifted the arm rest away, leaning her shoulder against his chest and placing his hand on her lap.

A soft sigh drifted passed her lips as her head became to rest on his boney shoulder, the heat radiating through his layered shirts relaxing the muscles in her neck, her eyes slowly sliding closed.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon." She whispered, her thumb stroking his index fingers in lazy circles. "I'm here for you."

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Sheldon awoke to a tangle of golden hair tickling his nose and cheeks, a small, soft body curled up into his side, one arm around its shoulders, the other resting in it's lap.

It all felt quite...natural to him.

As if...this that was how it had always been.

'Penny...'

His eyes rose at the metallic hiss above his head, the flashing seatbelt sign flickering in the corner of his eye.

"The Captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign, so please, make your way to your seats. And, as always, we hope you enjoyed your flight." A female voice said over the intercom, her voice distant and distorted, sounding almost as if she had stuffed her mouth with aluminum foil.

"Penny." He whispered, ducking his head close to hers as he pulled his numbed arm from around her shoulders, feeling the pins and needles start almost immediately as he layed it in his lap. "Penny."

"Mmmm." Was all he got in response as he watched her eyes flutter open, hazy from sleep, the small smile graced her lips making his insides quiver. "Your still here."

"Where else would I be." He replied, his eyebrows pulling together. "There is really no where to go on a plane."

She sat up then, looking around at the people seated around them in a fog, still seeming confused.

"Oh..." she finally said, leaning back. "Okay, I remember."

He watched as her eyes started closing again, her head falling over to lay on his shoulder, running her nose lightly along the length of his neck.

'Dear lord.'

"You must wake up, Penny" he insisted, wishing this was happening in any other circumstance. But, of course, it wasn't.

He was never that lucky.

He gently pushed her up, sitting her up straight and feeling around her seat for the belts, cursing himself silently every time his fingers brushed against the bare, smooth skin of her legs.

"Why, Sheldon," her voice suddenly said, sounding slightly more awake then before. "Are you trying to feel me up?"

She chuckled at her own joke as fought to keep the heat from his cheeks.

'God I wish.'

"I was merely trying to buckle you in sense you are seeming to refuse to wake up."

"Well..." Penny said, meeting his eyes as the buckles snapped together. "Thanks."

"Someone has to be the responsible one."

She nodded and widened her smile, leaning forward to watch out the window as they fell from the clouds, leaving Sheldon thanking whatever happened to lighten Penny's mood.

A happy Penny is a tolerable Penny.

And that's the Penny he loved.

xxxxxxxxx

"Shelly?"

Penny stopped cold at the sudden call, watching Sheldons back as he kept walking forward as if he hadn't heard it.

"SHELLY!" It came again and this time he stopped, his head falling slightly with a soft sigh and muttered words she couldn't make out.

"Hello, Mother." He said as he turned, his tone indifferent and somehow bored.

Penny watched a woman climb out of a nearby Parkes truck, smoothing her floral dress over her legs before starting over, big, black sunglasses pertched on her nose.

"How has my baby boy been!" She said in a sing song kind of voice as she pulled him unwillingly into a tight hug, his hand landing awkwardly on her hips as if he were debating whether or not to push her away. "Its been so long sense I saw ya."

She pushed him to arms length, her smile falling as she looked him over.

"Still wearin' them comic shirts I see." She said, shaking her head. "Are ya never gonna grow outta that?"

"It's nice to see you too." Her son said in reply, almost as if it was automatic.

Penny found herself forgotten as stood a few feet away, marveling at the odd scene playing out before her eyes, wondering silently to himself if this is how that one guy from 'Psycho' got his start.

Overbearing mother, constant criticism, bullying from the neighbor kids...and the next thing you know, Shelson's butchering her in her shower.

Excellent.

"Penny?"

She was drawn back into reality at her name, clearing the fog from her head in time to see Sheldon and his mother looking over in her direction.

She forced a smile.

"Hi," she said, making her way over. "I'm Penny, Sheldon's-"

"Oh honey," she interrupted, hurrying over with out stretched arms. "I know exactly who you are!"

She found herself being pulled into the same tight hug as Sheldon before her, short brown hair from bib falling into her face as she tried to glance over at Sheldon who was standing as stiff as a board, shoulders hunched, hands in his pockets.

He looked...very on edge.

"You do?" She asked, not really understanding why his mother would be so excites to see her son's neighbor.

"C'mon now," she chuckled, pulling away and patting Penny's cheek. "Don't act so surprised. It's not every day I get to meet one of my Shelly's girlfri-"

"Penny!" Sheldon suddenly yelled, cutting his mother off mid-sentence as he extended his hand towards her. "Can I talk to you for a moment."

It wasn't a question.

She excused herself with a smile and walked over to the towering man, letting his hand around her arm and lead her a few yards away.

"Girlfriend?" She hissed through clenched teeth, glaring up at with piercing eyes. "GIRLFRIEND?!"

"Penny, please let me explain-" he stared his voice low, his head bowing closer to hers.

"You told her told her I was your GIRLFRIEND?!" She continued, ignoring her neighbors request, hot rage boiling up in her gut. "I KNEW you didn't want me here for support! For support you would have asked Raj or Leonard! You used me!"

"Please lower your voice!" He whispered, his voice pleading as he glanced over her shoulder to where his mother undoubtedly stood, looking over curiously. "Give me a chance to try and rectify this."

Against her better judgement Penny stayed silent, taking a deep breath through her nose in an attempt to calm herself.

"You have one minute. And if I'm not satisfied with your answer by then I'm getting on the next flight back to Pasadena and never speaking to you EVER again!"

"I asked you here under false pretenses, yes. But I promise you, my motives are sound."

Penny watched through anger based eyes as Sheldon spoke, his blue eyes staring down at her in the oddest way.

"Forty seconds, Sheldon." She whispered. "Better make it count."

"I have asked you here...to get mother 'off my back', as you would say." He said, his words slow, eyes averted. "My mother never liked Amy. Always saying I could do better and that all she was was a proverbial ball and chain, and that she was doing nothing but holding me back and making me sink further further and further into all my 'problems'.

"Alright. Fifteen seconds."

He sighed, hoisting his bag further up nervously.

"I asked you here...to smooth things back over with my mother. To make her feel like I'm moving towards becoming normal and not with a person who enables my 'OCD' and 'narcissistic behaviours' as she claims."

She was quiet for a moment after he'd finished speaking, watching a small glimmer of hope well up in his eyes before throwing her answer at him like a on of bricks.

"Nope. I'm leaving." She replied before turning and starting away, stopped cold by Sheldon's next set of whispered words.

"I'll by your rent for three months."

He was getting desperate.

She could hear it along the rim of his voice.

She turned slowly, meeting his eyes, the were at that very moment rivaling the sky that hung over them itself.

.feel herself getting lost.

Drifting off into those two calm pools of water...

"Six months." She countered, shaking herself from whatever was coming over her. "And I want you to fix my laptop when we get home."

He scowled. "I have already offered to repair it for yo-"

"Do me to make you buy me a new one?!"

"If you honestly require one-"

"Shut up, Sheldon!" She snapped, pinching the bridge of her nose before dropping her arm limply at her side. "I will do this for you on two conditions."

"An agreement." He said, nodding his head up and down, understandingly. "That sounded reasonable. What are your conditions."

"One...I want what we discussed. Rent and laptop."

"Agreed."

"And two, I will supply you with all needed affection to scheme your mother, but when we're alone, we will not hug, sit by, talk...not even look at eachother." she raised an eyebrow. "understand?"

The look in his eyes could only be described as barely veiled panic, making her wonder why he was thinking about.

"Alright." he said finally, holding out a hand, waiting for her to shake it. "I shall write up an agreement as soon as possible." she took his hand.

"Fine."

She watched him nod and walk away, dropping her hand almost reluctantly as he passed.

.throat she ran her fingers through her hair, taking a minute to gather herself as thoughts she had just dine bombarded her mind.

Taking a deep breath she pushed them away, deciding that sense Sheldon had put her in an awkward position, she was put HIM in an even bigger one.

Putting on a pretty smile she gathered her strength and strolled over to Sheldon and his mother.

"I'm sorry about that." she chuckled. "Little lovers spat. But, what were you saying...?"

"I was sayin'," she paused, casting her eyes up at Sheldon scoldingly before continuing. "That it is such a treat to meet such a beautiful girlfrfiend of my Shelly."

"Girlfriend?" Penny gasped, looking up at Sheldon in mocked shock. "have you not told her?"

"Told me what?" she asked, casting her eyes to her son once more.

"We're getting married!"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: sorry it took so long! :)

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She felt a smug smile pull at the corners of her mouth turned her head, eyes casting up, landing on a wide eyed Sheldon, his mouth dropped down as if to speak, but not saying a word as he stared over at his mother in shock.

"Am I so unimportant now that you don't even tell me when you get engaged?!" She snapped, crossing her arms across the chest of her brightly colored dress, her bangles chimming musically together with her movements. "That makes me very sad, Shelly."

"Mother, I..." he stopped, turning his widened eyes down to Penny, looking for her to butt in once again, to fix the mess she had just made, sending her a look when she remained quiet. "I can assure you it came as quiet a shock to me as well."

Penny chuckled at his words, reaching an arm over and winding it through his as she leaned her head against his shoulder, holding him in place when he tried to pull away.

"Always the kidder, isn't he." She said, digging her nails into the exposed skin of his wrist that peeked out from beneath that hideous jacket he always insisted on wearing.

"Not when I knew him." His mother chuckled back, reaching out and squeezing Penny's free hand. "Ya must be doin' wonders for him, darlin'"

"I do try." Penny found herself chirping back, a smile as big as the Joker's spreading, only growing wider as they fell deeper and deeper into their lie.

'A tit for a tat, Dr. Cooper.'

xxxxxxxxx

He couldn't believe the words that had come out her mouth!

The audacity!

The nerve!

He sighed, dropping his head as he was pulled towards his mother's truck by Penny, barely listening to the two woman on either side of him clucking away like two hens on a farm.

To be completely honest he had barely even expected her to go along with it, even after she had said she would, throwing the agreement and her gains she stood to receive out the window just to spite and humiliate him.

But, even if she had, he knew he would have still held up his end of the deal because, well...he-

"Sheldon!"

Penny's words cut through his thoughts, his eyes rising to meet hers, struggling to keep his face blank as his eyes met hers, skimming slowly over her head to toe.

Her long blonde hair flowing out behind her like tresses of finely threaded pieces of silk, the sun glinting off it creating a golden halo as it shown down onto her tanned skin, making it seem to almost glitter from where she stood atop the rise to his mother's truck. His eyes drifted, lowering to the thin strip of skin that always seemed to peek out at him, almost mockingly, teasing him.

Taunting him.

"Are you coming?" She continued, tilting her head as she met his eyes, gesturing into the truck with a tilt of her head.

"Yes." He answered simply, climbing in after her.

xxxxxxxxx

"I do expect y'all to tell me about the proposal." His mother said, looking at them through the rear view mirror, her eyes pointingly at Sheldon.

He looked back in utter indifference.

"I don't see why you are suddenly so interested in my life." He said back, his tone not his regular 'I'm not understanding you' tone, it was a tone she had never heard from him before as she whipped her head around to face him.

Sarcasm.

"You know darn right that isn't true, Shelly bean!" She shot back, tightening her hands around the steering wheel. "I've always been interested in your life!"

Penny suddenly felt like an outsider looking on into a private, family moment.

Almost feeling guilty that she was there, because, despite what she had spat out in a moment of shocked anger, she was not and would never be, part of the Cooper family.

So, she sank back into her seat, casting her eyes over and out onto the blurred landscape that was flying passed as they sped down the road, wishing she was at home and cuddled in bed, catching up on Game Of Thrones.

But...she wasn't.

xxxxxxxxx

She soon found herself standing in Sheldon's childhood home, staring down at one of the darkly colored plaid couches that sat in his mother's pristine living room.

Not a speck of dust as far as the eye could see.

She heard the quiet shuffle of his shoes against the wooden floor as he entered, stopping by a glass case that lined a section of the furthest wall, the bright light that glittered inside casting a odd stream of light to bounce off one of the small crystal statues and hit his face, his eyes becoming an even brighter blue then usual as they stared over at her, waiting.

Turning her eyes down she examined the couch, more to the face, the 'spot' in which she was standing before.

Smiling to herself she stepped over, settling down onto the middle cushion before looking back up at her neighbor, a corner of his mouth lifting up into a strange sort of smile as he made his way over, taking taking his usual place at her left, nodding his head as if to say 'Good choice.'

"It's wonderful to see ya, Shelly." His sisters voice suddenly burst as she walked into the room, their mother at her side, driving the comfortable silence that had settled around Penny and Sheldon out of the room in a hurry. "You never call anymore."

"I called you five months ago." He replied, giving her an incredulous look. "It was when your son was born."

"Yes, you did. But, have ya' called sense?" She pressed, taking a seat across from them as Sheldon sighed, gripping the knees of his pants in his hands, rubbing his palms against the dark fabric.

"Missy, I care for you. But, in truth, I find you immensely draining. To be honest, five months hasn't been nearly long enough for me to recover before being forced to speak with you again."

Missy surprised Penny when a bright smile crossed her face, showing rows and rows of white, pearly teeth. "That's the brother I've missed." She said, winking. "Dull, blunt, predictable Sheldon."

"Be nice to your brother." Their mother rushed patting her daughter's knees, grinning the few feet between the two couches at Penny. "So, before everyone arrives, I want to know how my little Shelly bean proposed."

"Probably in an agreement."

Sheldon seemed unaffected by his sisters words as he turned to look to the blonde at his side, seeming almost as interested to hear as his family.

She was at a lose as she looked between the three sets of eyes, all glued to her, waiting. Silently cursing Sheldon in her head for bringing her here.

For putting her in this position.

'Uhm,' a small voice in her head squeaked. 'It was actually you who got yourself in this far deep. Ya know...just saying.'

"I proposed to her on the pier by our apartment."

Sheldon's voice shoved her back into reality, it was thoughtful, distant, his face seeming miles away as she stared up at him watching as he gathered his thoughts.

"We had been out there all day." He continued. "Having forgot our phones, we had no way to know we had missed work until the sun set and the people started to dewindle until we were the only two left. We made our way down to the beach, or, in a more accurate recollection, I followed behind as she rushed ahead chasing fireflies. And..." he shook his head slowly. "Just, watching her like that, She looked so free and young. Resembling everything I am not. I realized I no longer wanted to be just 'friends' and decided to rectify it. I knelt down onto my knee and presented her with a ring made from the notes I had been writing for an experiment earlier that day."

Silence.

All Penny could do was stare, her eyes wide, lips parted, her heart racing as her gaze traveled over the physicist at her side, his eyes cast down to where his fingers were fidgeting in his lap.

She didn't know what to say...all she seemed to be able to do was stare, losing herself in the absolute beauty he had just painted for her.

Maybe their was a human in there.

Somewhere.

'Maybe...' she couldn't help but think, her hand falling from her lap. "He's not as bad as he always let on.'

His fingers tensed when her hand slipped into his, relaxing only when she squeezed his hand, his eyes raising to meet his sister and mothers.

Perhaps...she could see a future with him...

...Maybe.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this, I got up at six feeling guilty for not doing it last night for all of you. And, as always, thank you all for being so awesome! :)**

**Jislane35: Yeah, sorry about that. I've always had a problem with that, but I promise I'll be more careful about it. English is a very hard language. Lol.**

**Ontheledge: Your enthusiasm humbles me! :D**

**xxxxxxxxx **

Sheldon watched Penny smile warmly as his mother strolled back into the room, handing the female at his side a cup of her 'award winning sweet tea'.

In his mother's opinion at least.

"Has she said yes yet?" She asked, taking her seat back beside Missy, smoothing her dress over her crossed legs.

Sheldon was...appuled, to say the least, as he looked over at his mother and sister in awe and horrified confusion.

Had they...really just inquired that?

"Do you assume I would bring Penny here under false pretenses?"

Beside him Penny snorted, his piercing gaze turning down in time to see her covering her mouth and nose with one of her hands, her eyes rising up to his.

"Sorry." She replied, her smile fading as she slumped her shoulders, raising her glass back up to her mouth. "Continue."

"Ya' know what I mean, Shelly." His mother interjected, swinging her eyes over to Penny. "Tell me, was it absolutely breath taking?"

Out of the corner is his eye he saw Penny's head slowly nodding, swallowing her mouthful before she spoke.

"It was...pretty darn nice." She answered, reaching over and patting his knee. "Not at all what I expected, especially from Moon Pie here."

His jaw clenched.

"I had always assumed a proposal from him would involve meetings and agreements and endless paperwork and, by the end of it, me not having the energy to even plan the wedding."

The women laughed.

"Speaking of the wedding-"

"We have no plans yet, Missy." Sheldon interrupted, giving his sister a hard look.

'Do not push this.'

"I was just askin' if ya'll set a date yet." She replied, her voice taking on a hurt, innocent quality. He rolled his eyes heavenward in response.

"May!" Penny cried, clapping her hands together as if brilliance had suddenly struck. "We will have a may wedding!"

His mother gasped, elbowing Missy and exchanging a wide smile.

"Wonderful choi-"

"We are not having a may wedding." He said, his voice like a pail of cold water on the conversation.

He watched silently as Penny's head turned, his stomach clenching as her now wide eyes turned to him, the corners of her pretty little mouth turning down.

He titled his head, marveling at how she could look so sad over something that wasn't actually happening.

Maybe she wasn't as bad an actress as he had thought.

"But...Shelly belly..." she quietly said, her voice high and slightly whinning, sounding more like a four year old child rather than a grown woman of twenty five. "...I want a may wedding. Please?"

He watched in horror as she batted her darkened eyelashes and puffed out her lower lip.

'Oh good lord'

Maybe he was concentrating a bit too hard on making her his.

"We will discuss this later, Penny." He said softly, leaning close to her ear.

She nodded sadly then turned back to the women before them, leaning her shoulder back against his chest, forcing him back from his tense position to rest against his seat. After a moment his muscles gave out, finally relaxing under Penny's warmth.

He watched her profile. The way her lips moved when she spoke and curled when she smiled, the way she moved her hair from her face with the tips of her fingers, brushing them lightly against her skin the way he yearned to.

Clearing his throat he pulled his arm from between their bodies and placed it haltingly around her shoulders, a flush of pleasant surprise rushing through him as she leaned into his touch.

'I think I could get accustomed to this...'

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Penny stood in the dining room, positioned in front of the mantle as she studied the pictures that hung from the wall, trying to find any resemblances between Sheldon and his relatives.

"It's not good to strain you eyes in the dark." Sheldons voice suddenly said, causing her to whip around, tripping back against the table as he watched the scene before in him confusion, flicking the floor lamp on that stood in the corner with a light click, it's dim light filling the room.

"I wasn't straining!" Her voice was loud and defensive for some unknown reason, making her scowl. "I was just looking at the-"

"Pictures." He finished, trolling passed her and standing in front of the mantle himself, his gaze rolling over the rows of fading photos, wrapped dark, glossy frames. "I know."

She cocked her head, looking at him through questioning eyes.

"Where you watching me?"

He shrugged, not looking away from the wall.

I was curious as to why you were still awake." He answered. "I see why now."

"Pictures are made to be looked at, Sheldon." Penny said, her eyebrows pulling together. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

"Oh, I'm not saying you were."

Silence.

"You put on a very convincing performance today, Penny."

Performance.

She felt herself grimace at the word.

It sounded so...deceiving.

"I was just doing what you asked." She replied, shrugging her small shoulders. "Isn't that what you wanted."

"I think, Penny, that's what you wanted." His words were said evenly, nonchalantly, but they sliced through her like a hot knife, her cheeks and ears warming. "I merely asked you to act as my partner. You are the one who made yourself my wife."

He met her eyes then, a certain glimmer sparkling deep within them, confusing her even more.

"And you, if I may say so, have seemed to slip flawlessly into the role."

A lump rose in her throat as she watched him turn, moving slowly to tower over her. Her heart quickening and her ears burned hotter as he took her hand in his, his eyes staring at hers with such an intensity she had never saw before except in an argument with Howard or when he saw a comic he 'must have'.

It was terrifying.

It was deadly.

It was...the most exhilarating thing she had ever saw.

"Sheldon, I..." she quieted at the shake of his head, his free hand pausing mid air between them, as if afraid to touch her arm.

Afraid her skin would burn him.

She watched through shocked eyes as he pulled. her forward, inch by inch, and, with every second that passed, more and more of her 'con's about Sheldon' seemed to dissipate into a pile of dust at her feet until all she was left with was pro's.

"Penny..."

She knew she should push him away and go upstairs and pretend this never happened, but...

"What are you two doing down here?"

The moment was shattered by the sound of his mother's voice, echoing through the silent room.

"We need to get up early in the morning." She continued, her voice cheerful. "Get up to bed you two."

Sheldon sighed and pulled away as his mother disappeared into the darkness of the hall, her heeled footsteps growing fainter as they traveled up the stairs.

He pulled away, rubbing his palms against his pants as he turned, making his way down the hall, leaving a dumbstruck Penny with no other option but to follow silently behind him.

"This is your room." He said as they neared the end of the hall, tipping his head towards the dark oak door behind him. "This is mine."

She smile, glancing over his shoulder at the small sign that was nailed to one of the grooves in the wood decorated with tiny planets and stars, his name written in the middle.

"Forever neighbors." She couldn't help murmuring, feeling her stomach tighten as a small smile pulled at a corner of his mouth. "G'night, Sheldon."

"Goodnight." She heard his voice say as she shut her door, his words whispered as to not wake whoever may be sleeping.

She flopped face down onto the bed that lay in a corner of the room, yanking the nearest pillow down over her head as she went over the night events in her mind.

'He really has changed.'

'He seems more...' she thought then trailed off, shaking her head.

She didn't know.

He just seemed so different.

Suddenly, her spine straightened, snapping her upright, her eyes wide as an odd realization wrapped around her like a warm, very unexpected blanket.

'Was...had Sheldon been about to kiss her?


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: It's getting closer and I'm so excited! :D as always, thanks to everybody for your love and enjoyment of my story! This chapters a bit more sweet then funny so I'm hoping I dont disappoint you guys. :)**

**ENJOY!**

**xxxxxxx**

Penny could kill herself as she stood in front of the floor length mirror nailed to the back of the door.

She had woke up late.

Having been tossing and turning all night unable to fall asleep late due to an overactive mind and her never ending curiosity running wild.

Her stomach flopping nervously as she ran her finger through her freshly made curls, seriously rethinking her dress she had yanked from her suitcase upon further examination of her rear end.

What would an engaged woman wear when meeting her soon to be husbands family and friends?

She had no clue.

She shook her head.

"I'm over thinking this." She said softly to herself, checking her makeup one last time before taking a deep breath, scrutinizing at her reflection one last time before throwing the door open with one swift movement.

Already feeling like a failure.

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"So, Sheldon," a deep, unknown voice thundered as she stepped down off the last step onto the landing, turning to make her way into the kitchen. "Where is this 'amazing beauty' of yours your mother has been running my ear off about?"

Penny felt a small tremor of pride flow threw her.

Amazing beauty?

"Sleeping." She heard Sheldon replied after a moment. "I didn't want to wake her."

"You two had a long night, huh slugger?" The man's voice laughed causing Penny's steps to still as the butterflies in her stomach started into over drive.

"That is tasteless." Sheldon said again in poorly masked disgust. "And even if we had had 'a long night' I fail to see how that is any of your concern."

"Sheldon!" His mother snapped, the light tinkle of a piece of silverware falling onto a plate or bowl floated out into the hall to Penny's ears. "Don't be rude!"

"He is neither family nor friend." He insisted to who she assumed would be his mother. "Wherever he receives the nerve to inquire about mine, or Penny's for that matter, sexual lives is beyond my need or want to understand."

"Sheldon Lee Cooper!" His mother scolded, her voice rising. "Ya' stop such talk at the table right this second!"

She chose then to enter, hoping to stop the argument before it came to blows.

With two people as stubborn and hard headed as Sheldon and his mother...who knew what could happen.

"I am not a child anymore, I can say anything.." his voice trailed off as his eyes rose to the door way, his lips parting slightly as his gaze rolled Penny over head to toe. His attention was total and penetrating, making her feel as if he were drinking her up.

As if he were consuming her.

Memorizing her.

She watch as he shoved his chair back from the table with hard, uncoordinated movements causing it to clatter loudly to the ground behind him. But, he didn't seen to notice as he threw his balled up napkin down onto his still full plate, his eyes never leaving her.

He swallowed visibility as he made his way around the table, pulling the chair across from him out and gesturing with a wave of his hand for her to sit.

Silently, she made her way over, smiling at the multiple pairs of eyes that were fixed onto her, once again cursing herself inwardly as she realized everyone, beside her forever anal neighbor that is, was still in their pajamas.

"How'd ya' sleep, hun?" His mother said, standing as Penny took her seat, plucking a fresh plate from the counter.

"Good." She replied, taking her napkin from he table and placing it into her lap, her eyes following Sheldon's hands, mimicking his folds and movements. "Thank you."

xxxxxxxxx

He had never saw such a female before.

He stared down at his plate, pushing his food around with his fork, his attention focused on Penny, having watched her watching him as he folded his napkin onto his lap, following his technique almost perfectly.

He smiled inwardly.

His plan was working.

"I gotta say, Sheldon," his mothers neighbor, Ernie, said again, his raspy, smokers voice playing on his nerves like some sort of musical instrument. "You know how to land the ladies." He paused to laugh, slamming one of his meaty hands down into the tables causing the plates and glasses upon it to jiggle and clank together. "Usually woman like that won't go fer a guy like ya' unless he got millions!"

His eyes narrowed, jaw setting tight.

He had never liked Ernie, not even as a child. He always seemed to be at the house, either talking to his mother, watching the football games with his father or staring to long at his sister at the dinners he always managed to find an excuse to join.

He pulled his hand tighter around his fork as Penny shifted in her seat, uneasy under his constant gaze.

"Tell me, girl," he continued, turning the conversation to Penny now. "How did a guy like him land a striker like you?"

He turned his eyes to her, scanning over her profile as she stared over at the loud, obnoxious man for a moment, her small nose wrinkling.

"He is a gentleman." She surprised him by saying, bolting up from her seat and turning her head to meet his gaze. "Come with me, Sheldon?"

Without a thought he was on his feet, following her out into the entry way, grabbing his jacket on the way out the door before closing it softly behind him.

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"Can you BELIEVE that man!" She ranted as they strolled down the sidewalk, there pace even and slow, her black heeled shoes clacking against the worn, cracked cement as they went. "To just...say stuff like that? He doesn't even know me!"

Sheldon shrugged, understanding her anger, but not really knowing what to say or do to help rectify it.

Not knowing how to make her feel better.

"He's always been that way." He said, slowing a bit and waiting her her to catch up. "When I was eleven he asked me if I had ever seen a woman's..." he trailed off, watching a smile spread across her face as his hands circled his chest, his tongue unable to shape what he was thinking.

"Boobs?"

He flinched at her offered word as if she'd slapped him, his eyebrows pulling together, his mouth opening to scold her for such language when she continued on.

"Had you, Sheldon?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively, her smile slowly turning to a smirk as she read the discomfort that was most likely written all over his face. "Where you one of those, oh so sought after, playboys, Shelly?" She paused to chuckle, looping her arm through his, matching his pace easily. "I bet you were."

He could feel the heat rising up his neck as the control slipped further and further through his finger and into Penny's, leaving him feeling like an imbecile when all he could do was shake his head.

"Please Penny." He said. "Just...don't."

"Oh, C,Mon, I was just kidding!" She cried happily, waving a hand out before them. "It's a beautiful day, Sheldon! Be happy!" She squeezed his arm and he looked down at her in return, finding himself breathless for a moment at the sight beside him.

The early morning sun shone onto her like a spot light, sending her skin and hair ablaze with a beauty he had only ever known her to be able to capture. Her dark dress hugged her close and her hair fell down her back and shoulders, her green eyes cast forward as her lips curled up into a smile.

A smile he had seemed to love from the first moment he had saw it.

His eyes refocused when her steps stilled, pulling him to a stop in her wake.

"See that?" She said, leaning her head to rest on his shoulder as he followed her gaze, his eyes rolling across the distant city, the tips of the skyscrapers just barely visible over the rows and rows of houses.

He had never noticed before, or maybe he never cared enough to stop and look, but...it was actually quite, dare he say, extraordinary?

The way it glinted and glittered in the sun, the odd way the clouds reflected against the glass as they floated passed across the sky...

"The sun is shining for us today." Penny continued, her voice whispered, just catching Sheldon's ear before the breeze carried it away.

He didn't know if it was being back home or emotions flowing from Penny into him due to the close proximity, but, all he knew as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped his around her slender shoulders was, all the annoyance and irritation he felt being around his family was worth it.

SHE had always been worth it.

They may not have known where they were going, but even so he knew, that even if they didn't end up anywhere, this would never be a wasted day.

At least in his mind.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for all the love! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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"I'm sorry, but I don't know what social situation this is."

He actually looked horrified as he stared down at the spoon Penny held to his lips, the fluffy pink ice cream slowly starting to melt and slide down her arm making her skin all sticky and gross.

"It's called 'tasting somebody else's ice cream' Sheldon." She said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I don't know if it's a common practice on your planet, but down here on earth it kinda what friends do, like...on a daily basis."

Silence.

"We are friends, aren't we?"

Of course, she already knew the answer, she just loved to mess with that big, brilliant mind of his.

"Well...yes, but-"

"Then what's the problem?"

People started to turn their heads as they passed, watching the odd couple arguing in front of the ice cream cart like little children.

She had to smile.

'Oh, what they must think.'

"Could you perhaps direct me in the appropriate way to go about thi-"

"Just eat it, Sheldon!" She snapped, poking the reddened plastic against his now locked lips. "It's bubble gum! Everybody likes bubble gum."

"Actually, I've nev-"

Penny took advantage, shoving her spoon into his mouth mid sentence and watching in amusement as his face dropped, his expression nothing less than shock.

"That was dirty, Penny." He managed to say around his mouthful, the look in his eyes slowly turning from shock to questioning as he chewed. "Why would you put chocolate on bubble gum."

She smiled the widest, most self accomplished smile she could muster up at him as she answered. "Because I can."

He raised an eyebrow, looking from his cup into hers, as if comparing.

She rolled her eyes in response. "And what? Vanilla's so cool!?"

"I'm not saying that." He replied, watching as she shook her head, starting forward. "I was merely saying that chocolate and bubble gum isn't a normal flavor combination."

"Okay," she nodded thoughtfully, tapping her spoon against her teeth. "So, you admit then that it isn't a BAD combination...just...rare."

"Correct."

She smiled to herself, feeling a strange sort of accomplishment flow through her as his words slowly started making sense in her mind. "Alright. I can respect that."

"Good girl." He said, a small smile appearing on his lips as his slender hand rose to give her a, somewhat mocking, tap on the top of her head, shoving his arm with hers in return.

"You want some more?" She asked as they strolled, having caught his eyes every so often drifting down to the frosted cup in her hands.

"'DO' I want anymore?" He questioned, putting unneeded emphasis on her grammatical error, his eyes twinkling as if he got some sort of sick joy from pointing out others mistakes.

"Be nice or your 'gettin' no more'."

He continued as if she hadn't even spoken, most likely deciding not to give her the satisfaction of seeing him squirm.

"No, it's yours." He answered, nodding to himself, as if agreeing with his . "I have mine."

"Uh huh." Penny retorted, nudging his elbow. "But now that you've tasted the awesomeness that is mine...you want more."

Silence.

"Sheldon."

No reply, his head just turned away, looking out over the wooden fence and out onto the sun bathers scattered around the crowded beach.

"SHELLY!" She called, climbing to her tip toes to draw closer to his ear. "SHELLY BEAR!"

"Oh dear lord, woman." He snapped, finally whirling his head around to face her smug face as she dropped back down onto her heels. "You are very irritating at times."

"Yeah, but that's why you hang around with me so much." She chuckled, snatching the cup from his loose grip and replacing it with her own, never breaking stride.

"Penny," he said, looking down at his hands before holding their contents out for her to take back. "I can't take your ice cream."

She shrugged. "why not?"

He seemed momentarily dumbstruck, staring over at her with the oddest expression.

Looking floored by the entire idea.

"Because...I bought it for you."

"I have this one." She quipped, grinning sweetly as she held up his, plucking the spoon out and placing it into her mouth. "And, since YOU bought them, technically their both yours anyway. You were just kind enough to let me eat one." She nodded down to the cup in her hands. "And I choose this one."

The amusement that glimmered as she spoke was indescribable, seeming to bounce from his eyes to his mouth, spreading across his face like a wildfire, lightening up feature it touched in a way she had never seen before.

Right then, at that moment...he was actually kind of beautiful as he nodded his thanks and turned his head forward, leaving her with only the memory of that once in a 'Sheldon lifetime' moment she had just experienced.

'Today is a good day.'

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"Doesn't it amaze you?" He heard her ask suddenly, drawing his attention to her as he turned his head to look down at her, watching as she stared out onto the water, the orange hue that had settled over them, cast by the setting sun, radiating off her porcelain like skin.

"Does what amaze me?" He asked, ashamed to find his voice barely above a whisper as he spoke, trying to cover it with a, very unconvincing in his option, clearing of his throat. "The ocean?"

"Well...yes, but...no." she nodded, shrugging her small shoulders. He watched silently as she searched donr her words, her lips pursing in the most adorable way...

"I mean...the ocean goes on for miles and miles. It travels the entire world, Sheldon!" She continued, turning to look at him, his breath catching when their eyes met.

The utter wonder and...awe that innocently in them was so innocent.

Childlike even.

He found it to be the most refreshing sight saw in many years, being stuck with like minded, and yes, he was using the word 'like' loosely, individuals that had a working knowledge of the mind, the human body...the world that they no longer had that spark.

That certain sparkle that he assumed they had once possessed.

"Like...yesterday this water could have been on the shores of China or Russia...maybe even Australia! We don't know. Whales could have swam through it or sharks or dolphins..." her voice trailed off, her eyebrows pulling together . she saw on his face before he could wipe it away. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Am I looking at you a certain way?" turned, eyes moving from her confused gaze and settling onto the ocean that spanned before them.

"Yeah, actually. It was like an 'oh good lord how did I ever get stuck with this insane, hippie female'."

"You do a very good impression of me, Penny."

"Sheldon."

"Yes?"

"Don't change the subject."

He felt himself sigh, his hands slipping into his pockets, feeling as if he were being backed into a corner.

He knew Penny too well to assume she would drop a subject so easily.

"Frankily, it's the exact opposite." He admitted in a hesitant voice. "I was actually marveling at how easily amazed you are all the time."

"Well, I'm sorry I have .of wonder and not totally desensitized by a giant brain and-" she snapped, wrinkling her nose at him.

"I wasn't saying it was a bad thing." He interrupted, unable to help the smile that spread across his face. "I actually find it quite...endearing."

Silence.

He tilted his head, watching in a quiet kind of wonder as a dark blush started crawling up her slim neck.

Had he made her blush...?

"Endearing?" Her voice was whispered, eyes still cast away.

"I find most be that way." He said, nodding slowly to himself, praying to every god he could conjure up.

Swearing up and down that, if by some miracle, all this worked out how he planned he would become the most god fearing man that had ever walked the earth.

'Just...please. Let Penny be mine.'

"Sheldon..." she shook her head, her small, awkward chuckle twinkling in the air around. them.

"I have something for you." He interrupted once again, seeing her eyes to turn back up and watch as he dug in his pocket.

Widening as he knelt down, taking her hand into his, holding a twisted piece of paper between his index and thumb, holding it out to her, her eyes following it as .

"Penny..."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know, I know! I'm a horrible person! Please forgive me. My only excuse is that I was catching up on Game Of Thrones. O.o omg! Anyway! Please don't hate me because I promise promise promise that the true romance will begin sooner than you think! **

**Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxxxx **

Penny's breath was caught in her lungs as she stared down at the man kneeling before her, his head tilted up towards her, one of his hands outstretched as the thumb and index finger constricted around a ring of twisted paper, faint black ink scribbles visible against the abused yellow page.

"Will you do me the honor?" He said, his voice dropping a few notches, almost lost against the rush of the waves breaking against the shore a few feet from where they stood.

"Are...are you...?" She tried, trailing off as she realized as she had nothing to say, her hand, that hung limply at her side, itching to reach out and touch his offering.

To slip it onto her finger and make everything real.

"I decided that, to ease the strain of lying, an actual proposal might be in order."

The ground seemed to fall out from under her bare feet when his words dropped from his lips and reached her ears, her stomach falling in a way she never thought it would for her nerdy neighbor.

Her arms drew behind her back in a frail attempt to hide her clenched hands, her eyes casting up towards the sky as her head tilted back, her eyes burning with confusing tears she refused to shed.

Had she actually expected Sheldon to propose?

For real?

'I'm so damn stupid...' she cursed herself, forcing a small, bitter laugh from her throat. 'So very stupid.'

"I've disappointed you..." she heard him say, his voice saddened and confused all in one, something very much unlike him.

"No, I..." Penny after a short pause, dropping her gaze back down, placing a small, weak smile onto her lips. "I just...this is just like how you told your mom it was."

A corner of his mouth lifted up, reaching out his hand to take hers, the warm, surprising roughness of his skin against hers making her heart flutter, jumping up into her throat as she watched him slowly slide the makeshift ring onto her finger.

"That's the mastery behind it." Sheldon said, running his thumb in light circle against her palm causing goosebumps to erupt over her arm before she pulled it back to her body, a blush burning its way up her neck and ears. "It is no longer a lie."

"Yeah..." she heard herself say before clearing her throat and turning away, grabbing her heels up off the cooling sand. "If you say so."

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The walk home had been long and silent as they made their way down Galveston's now quiet streets, the only sounds were their breaths and soft steps against the sidewalk.

She was almost thankful when the front door was flung open as they strolled up the pathway to the house, Sheldon's mother appearing in the door way, shadowed by the lights that shone brightly behind her.

"I'd like to talk to the both of you before bed." She said as they entered, ignoring Sheldon's attempt at declining as she ushered them both into the living room, taking their hands into hers.

She heaved a great, tired sigh before speaking. "I...was very upset when y'all left this morning during breakfast, I just kept thinking 'Shelly knows how Ernie is, why would he act this way and embarrass me like this', but-"

"I 'acted' the way I did because that crass man, if you can even call him that, was inquiring about a very private matter between Penny and I." Sheldon interrupted, not seeming to notice the not so subtle rolling of his mothers eyes. "I found it very distasteful."

"You made that abundantly clear this morning, Shelly." She snapped, taking a deep breath as she caught her temper, trying to let it go.

Penny got the feeling it wasn't very often that Mary admitted that she was wrong, especially to Sheldon, who, at that moment, was making it even harder.

Not on purpose of course, Penny knew that. He was just being...Sheldon.

"Missy talked to me after you left and..made me realize that, while you may know better, Ernie does not and all you were doing was trying Penny's honor against his vulgarity." She rushed, dropping their hands and wiping her forehead with the heel of her palm. "I am sorry. I realized I put Penny in an uncomfortable situation and that you were just doing what every good husband does. But you know him...the word 'no' means diddily in his world."

Out of the corner of her eye ahe saw Sheldon nod, seemingly unmoved by his mother's apology, appearing more like the man she was used to.

"Thank you, mother." He said, reaching out and taking Penny's hand into his. "We will see you in the morning."

Without another word she found herself being pulled from the room, barely getting out a decent 'goodnight' before he was pushing her up the stairs into the darkness.

"You didn't have to be so rude, Sheldon." She snapped, her voice whispered against the silence of the hall. "She's your mother!"

"I am very aware of that fact, Penny." He replied, watching as she hurried ahead. "And I was not being rude. I accepted her apology."

"Yes, in a rude way." She said again, pushing the door to her room open with a slight crack, preparing to step inside when she was pulled back.

"Before you leave, I have a question."

"Doctor Sheldon Cooper has a question?" Penny let out in a humorless chuckle.

"Sarcasm." He said, his voice matter-of-factly.

"Obviously."

She was ignored.

"Today, on the beach when I gave you the ring and told you my idea of easing the lie, why did you look...upset."

She felt her heart stop only to pick back up into overdrive as panic rolled over her, realizing he had seen it.

Saw the probably all too telling expression that plastered itself onto her face in her moment of shock and weakness.

She felt her mouth open and close but no words seemed to come as she stared up into those blue eyes that had been haunting her dreams lately, sending her heart and mind ablaze whenever he was close.

His grip around her wrist tightened as she tried to pull away, watching as he stepped closer, pressing her back into the wall as she stumbled staring up at the man towering above her.

"You have an answer."

It was not a question.

Not even close.

It was a demand in it's rawest form, sending shivers up her spine.

"I...I wasn't upset..."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"Your nostrils flare whenever you lie." He said, his free hand rising to brush her nose, slowly sliding down across her lips, his touch so light it felt almost like a breeze, leaving her unsure if it had actually happened at all as his hand dropped back down to his side.

Suddenly she pulled away, shoving him as best she could as she slipped under his arm, ducking her head to hide the red that had smeared itself across her cheeks and chest.

"I can't do this." She mumbled just before her door shut with a soft click.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Praise me for I have finally delivered! Lol. Just kidding. **

**ENJOY!**

**xxxxxxxxx **

'What did she mean she can't do this anymore?'

Sheldon had been pacing back and forth across this room for the past hour, sleep seeming to allude him as his mind raced, making him increasingly nervous as his schedule was thrown further and further out of wack.

'Did she mean she couldn't keep up the charade any longer?' He obsessed, rubbing his palms against the coarse plaid fabric of his pajama pants. 'Or did she mean...she could tolerate me no longer...?'

He felt a rush of anger he had never experienced before, flooding his veins as his hands came down onto the ever spotless surface of his dresser, glaring up at his reflection.

"Her vagueness irritates me beyond belief." He snapped at the Sheldon in the mirror. "Must she always be so darn mysterious? You don't even know her last name."

'Cooper.' The small, illogical voice in the back of his head quipped, sending his mind reeling, taking him unwillingly back to all the times he had planted his last name after hers in his head, not even really thinking about it.

Even when she had been with Leonard.

It just seemed so...natural to him.

Shaking his head he gave up and pushed away, making his way over to his bed, sighing as he crawled under his sheets and pulled the comforter over his head.

Thoroughly done with the world and every person who walked upon it.

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Penny made her way out the back door, having been woken up by voices floating up through the open window that was pertched above the guest beds headboard, squinting against the bright morning light that assaulted her sleep fogged eyes.

"Well g'mornin', sleepyhead." She heard Mary say, turning her head in time to see her emerging from the small green shed that sat in the furthest corner of their yard, its back end flush with the high picket fence that ran the length of their vast yard. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did." Penny answered, watching as Sheldon appeared from the opened doors, a small pile of wood cradled in his arms, the white cloth of his t-shirt smeared with mud and wood splinters, the grey of his pants splattered with faded paint.

For a second her train of thought went blank as she watched him make his way over, his eyes staring down at the ground, his steps nearly silent as he treaded across the freshly mowed grass in socked feet.

Everything that was happening at that moment, right before her very eyes, went against everything she had come to learn and tolerate about her neurotic neighbor.

He looked, dare she say, normal.

"I would have woken ya up sooner, but Sheldon insisted on my letting ya sleep." Mary said, her voice nearly lost to Penny's ears, to consumed in staring up at Sheldon as he passed, his eyes still cast away as he entered the house, setting the wood down on the mud porch as he passed. "He really cares for ya, darlin'."

She turned her head back to the woman before her and pulled the corners of her mouth up into what she hoped was a convincing smile.

"I'd hope so."

She did too.

More than anything, to be honest. To have him look at her the way he did comic books or those crazy squiggles on the paper that always seemed to clutter his desk.

"Come with me for a moment." She said, not waiting for an agreement as she looped her arm through Penny's, leading her over to the chipping blue bench built around the base of one of the large trees that stood in their yard. "I don't think you quite...understand how much my son cares or you."

"I do, Mrs. Cooper...I always have."

She shook her head at Penny's words, a small smile appearing across her lips.

"He loves you, darlin'." Mary said, glancing over at the house, crossing her legs, a small chuckle fell from her mouth. "I've never seen him like this before. I mean...if I had asked him six months ago, or even a year, to help set up the pit...it would'a been a huge argument that I would have inevitably lost because, as you know, there's no winning against him."

"He...he loves me?" Penny heard herself ask in a small voice, not having heard anything else of what Mary had said after those three words, drowned out as it echoed over and over again in her mind, her heart thudding loudly in her ears.

"When was the last time you saw that boy walk around outside in socks." his mother said asshe reached across the small distance between them and patted her knee. "You are good for him, Penny. Even if you don't see it."

"I don't know about that..."

"You can see it whenever he looks at you, darlin'. It's as clear as a blue sky on a sunny day."

Penny felt a smile force its way out, lowering her head and covering her mouth as a familiar heat crawled up her chest and neck, marveling silently at the rush of unexpected happiness that raided her mind, taking over her senses.

'He loves me...' she couldn't help but repeat, suddenly, the notion of her being a real part of the cooper family, wasn't so far fetched.

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"Goddamnit!" She cursed, throwing yet another shirt onto the bed displeased of how it looked before leaning down and tearing another from her suitcase.

Nothing looked right.

Everything she had brought was either too old, wasn't 'fancy' enough or he had saw it too many times before.

'How the hell am I gonna tell Sheldon the truth if I look like complete crap!'

Feeling defeated she fell down onto her back, the bed squeaking as her weight came down all at once, shocking the springs.

Her stomach was turning.

Flip flopping uneasily as she stared up at the ceiling, the terrifying realization of what she was about to do suddenly seeming to dawn on her.

Doubt.

"So...Sheldon," she said to the ceiling, her words hushed, unwilling to risk anyone overhearing, embarrassing her further. "I've been thinking...I like you...and...if you like me too...why don't we, ya know, date?"

Her eye brows pulled together, replaying the words she had just said in her head before groaning, pulling one of the neatly stacked pillows down over her face, seriously considering suffocating herself.

'What am I?' She moaned in her mind. 'A fucking fourth grader? Maybe I should just slip a love letter in his locker and hope he figures out I'm the one who gave it.'

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Sheldon stood in the back yard, watching as one of their neighbors stoked the fire, listening to his mother bark orders to Missy and everyone else who had been disillusioned enough to offer to help, while he, being the genius he was, just sat out on the side lines and watched the inevitable chaos unfold before him, occasionally lowering his eyes to fiddle with the small, blue screw on cap of his iced tea.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a small figure emerge from the doorway, lifting his eyes only see the person who had caused his mood to darken as much as it had.

Her blonde hair and light eyes a constant reminder of his failed experiment.

But still, his eyes wandered, flitting over her skin and figure, taunting himself further with what he was never going to have.

Penny.

He honestly wasn't sure which he was more disappointed about. The failure of the experiment or the reality of having to accept that Penny would never know how he felt.

If she even cared at all.

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"Hey, Sheldon." Her voice said as she stepped up to his side, sitting down slowly onto the bench beside him. "What're you doing way over here by yourself?"

He didn't look up when she spoke, instead, he just kept staring down at the plastic bottle in his hands, spinning the loosened cap slowly back and forth with his thumb.

"I don't like people." He replied simply, surprising her with his disinterested tone. "Also, I didn't want to deal with my mother. She looses all sense of reality during the holidays."

"Most people do..." Penny said, putting on a small smile at she tilted her head, trying to catch his evading eyes. "Holidays are stressful times of the year."

"Their unnecessary."

Silence.

"Your being very negative all of a sudden."

"No, Penny." He disagreed, still not meeting her eyes. "I'm being logical."

For a moment she didn't speak, just stared over at his t-shirt, her eyes running along the bold, blackened outlines that marred its green surface, forming what she could only assume to the 'The Hulk'.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice falling as she scooted closer, feeling her heart drop when he moved away, setting his bottle down in the place he once occupied as he stood, his eyes glued to the ground, arms hung limply at his side.

"Nothing Penny," he said, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "Just...enjoy the celebration."

"Sheldon." She said as he started away, reaching out for his arm only to have her hand close around the space between them. "Sheldon!"

He gave no answer as he continued to walk away, disappearing once again into the house, leaving Penny staring after him as hot tears rolled down her cheeks, seeming to scorch her skin before she could catch them, wiping them with the back of her hand.

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She could hear the joyful conversation from the front porch, pertched against the railing, a glass of wine in one hand, a fist full of the emergency candy she had stashed in her suitcase, in the other as her eyes stared, unseeing, across the street.

She felt like a fool.

A total failure.

How could she have been stupid enough to fall for Sheldon.

Sheldon,Asexual, OCD riddled, slave to his neurotic tendencies, Cooper.

She let out a bitter laugh at the sheer irony as she raised her glass to her lips and took a long drink, lowering her head as the bitter liquid made its way down her throat, colliding with her empty, churning stomach.

If anybody had told her seven years ago that she would be getting drunk and fat over Sheldon...she would have slapped them and sent them straight to the Looney bin.

Which, as a matter of fact, was exactly what she was debating on whether or not doing with herself.

'How could a simple three day trip to freakin' Texas turn into such a damn mess!' She snarled to herself, setting her jaw. 'All I wanted to do was help my neighbor go home for Christmas.'

Not fall for the guy.

"Penny?"

She jumped at his voice, her fingers opening as the glass fell from her grasp, shattering against the dirt, the shards disappearing into the flowers.

"Shit." She sighed, letting her hands fall loudly down onto the brightly painted railing before her.

"Did I startle you?"

"No." She snapped. "I was completely expecting you to pop out of nowhere."

"Alright then." He replied, either not registering her sarcasm or just choosing not to dignify it with an answer. "Dinners ready."

"Alright then." She said, throwing his words back at him in a childish way, immediately regretting it.

Out of the corner if her eye she saw him reach out a hand, hating the way her heart sped when his fingers touched her skin, slowly sliding own her arm before taking her hand into his, pulling her over, holding her stable as she stumbled, her head spinning.

"Come on." His voice was gentle, his mouth close to her ear. "Food will help you feel better."

Silently she nodded, letting her weight fall onto to Sheldon, his arm wrapping around her waist as she leaned into his touch, pausing for a moment to feel his steady heartbeat against her arm before starting forward with measured steps.

Wishing that moment could last forever.

But knowing it couldn't.

xxxxxxxxx

"Thanks for hanging around with me tonight." She let out a small, awkward laugh.

Sheldon shrugged in reply as they made their way down the empty upstairs hallway.

"Common courtesy." He said, stopping outside his door, opening it before turning back around to face her. "I'm the one who asked you here, I should keep you company since you don't know anyone else."

Once again, his words struck her heart, her eyes dropping to stare down at her feet.

"Still...thanks."

It fell silent as Penny shifted from foot to foot, trying to stay in place while every fiber of her was screaming to jump out and hug him.

Tell him how much she cares.

"Penny,"

She shook her head, her eyes squeezing shut, afraid of what he was going to say.

Knowing she couldn't endure another gut shot caused from his words, slowly pounding her farther and farther into the ground.

"Please...just don't..." she breathed, turning to enter her room.

"Penny!" Sheldon all but yelled, pulling her back and pushing her body against his, his icy eyes suddenly burning, boring into her as his hands rose, sliding up along her arms before cupping her face. "For once...just listen to me, you stupid girl."

He didn't speak.

He wound his arms around her waist as her eyes fluttered shut at their own accord, his head bowed, his lips meeting hers.

Mesmerizing her.

She folded hers arms around his neck when he started to move, scared to have him pull away and steal the stars and bright lights that were streaking across her closed lids, unwilling to give up the warm softness of his lips moving against hers.

Without a moment to catch her breath her balance was suddenly stolen as she was pulled forward, tripping over Sheldon's feet as he turned and pushed her into his room, kicking the door shut behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: okay so...I'm REALLY nervous about this chapter, like...I'm currently hiding under my covers , scared. Lol. **

**This is the first one I've ever done and...yeah, I did like 7 drrafts and this was the only one that was even remotely decent. :/ I'm...SO sorry if it sucks.**

**But...enjoy and...don't hate me too much. :D**

**xxxxxxxxx **

"What are we doing?" She asked, turning her head just long enough to utter those words before she was drawn back into the kiss, his lips sliding from her lips to her cheek.

"I wanted to talk to you." He mumbled against the curve of her jaw, his hot breath tickling as it fanned over her skin.

"So you pull me into your room like some hormone crazed highschool boy?" Penny said, giggling at her own version of a joke.

"You didn't have to come." He said, obviously not finding the humor as he pulled away to look her in the eyes.

"Yeah..." she said simply, feeling a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, her fingers running along the tight muscles in his neck, feeling his heartbeat thudding against her palm before her hand was lost in his hair line. "Sheldon?"

He didn't reply as his head ducked, his lips moving to her neck, his hands gripped her arms as he urged her back into his body.

"Sheldon." She whispered again, pulling away the best she could manage, tilting her head only to find herself staring up into his eyes, feeling herself fall, becoming utterly and irreversible lost inside them.

"Not now." He murmured softly, his lips brushing against her ear as his feather light touch ran down to rest on her waist, his cool hand sensing a jolt of heat up her spine, his fingers gripping the bottom of her shirt.

An overwhelming sense of want flooded through her as he nudged him on without saying a word, her body pressed into his.

She was suddenly pushed, lost in a a moment of dark surprise as she tripped back against the bed, falling onto the materess as his weight followed hers seconds later. His lips were demanding as he pushed her against his pillows, grabbing a fist of her golden hair and pulling her head back, fighting for dominance over her.

Expecting it.

She watched him through closing eyes, feeling him shift, kneeling over her as the heat of his gaze rolled over her and stoked the fire that burned deep inside, his fingers toying with the hem of her shirt as he spoke."Do you love me?"

She stopped cold, her eyes snapping open, blindsided by his unexpected question.

"Sheldon..."she began, her voice hoarse and weak as it reached her ears. "Your my best fri-"

She was cut off when he jerked her head back, uncaring as his knuckles cracked against the headboard, winding her golden hair tighter into his fist.

"Do not play this game, little girl." He said, his voice low in her ear. "I will always win."

She couldn't help the shiver that rocked her body at his words.

"That is what you were going to ask earlier." He whispered against her throat. "Am I wrong?"

All she could do was close her eyes, finding her voice suddenly unable to work as his hand slowly traced up her thigh, worming it's way under her shorts.

"Or...is this what you want?" He continued, his fingers pressing against her covered core.

The moan that tore from her throat was immediately regretted as a wave of embarrassment washed over her.

'This is Sheldon!' A voice in the back of her mind shouted. 'He shouldn't be able to make you make noises like that!'

But, at that moment, all she could do was think about his fingers as she bullied all reasonable and rationale thoughts into a cold, dark corner.

She was finally getting what she wanted.

Sheldon.

She was not going to let her stupid head ruin this for her.

She felt him smirk against her neck, a soft chuckle vibrating against her skin. "Yes..." he whispered, his fingers slowly pushing passed her underwear. "I think you want this."

With one swift movement his fingers were inside her, the scream that he forced up from her silenced by his hand, his nails digging into her skin as his fingers worked, moving in and out at a torturous speed.

"Shhh..." he cooed in her ear, pushing more of his weigh down on top of her. "You don't want to be heard, do you?" He shoved his fingers into her as he spoke. "Answer my question."

"Sheldon..." she gasped, reaching out and pulling his hand from around her mouth. "Please..."

He yanked her head back again, slamming it against the bed. "Answer me!" He demanded, slamming his fingers into her again and again, making it increasingly hard to think as the pressure built up in her stomach, pulling the muscles tighter and tighter.

She couldn't believe it as she stared up at him through blurred eyes, trying to wrap her head around the fact that this was the Sheldon she had known for so many years.

And...she never knew...

His eyes were piercing as they watched her, biting his bottom lip as he moved his fingers, concentrating as if he were counting every stroke, every pump as he pressed the ever growing bulge that tented his pants into her stomach.

"I...I"

"Say it, Penny." He murmured into her ear, running his tongue along the shell. "Say it!"

"I love you!" She screamed, burying her face into his shoulder as she fell over, the pressure in her stomach finally exploding, sending her toppling over the edge into an abyss she had never experienced before.

It was consuming.

The lights that flashed before her eyes almost blinding.

It scared her.

"You said you loved me." He said, his eyes roaming over the limp body that sprawled out under him as he lifted her shirt, pulling it over her head before starting on her shorts. "Did you mean that? Or did you just want what I could give you?"

"Sheldon..." her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke, watching through hooded eyes as he tossed her clothes over his shoulder, uncaring."...I've always loved you..."

For a moment he paused, staring down at his hands as they ran across her stomach, whatever look that was bared in his eyes hidden behind the shadows that veiled his face.

She suddenly found herself on her stomach, her chest pushed into the sheets as he undid her bra, muttering to himself as he struggled with the clasp, slapping her hands away when she reached back to help.

"Don't move!"

After a few seconds it finally fell away, his hands sliding up her back as he leaned forward, pushing his heated lips against her skin, his tongue drawing mindless patterns along her neck.

His kisses dropped, slowly running down to her ear and jaw, his breath hitching as her heart sped up, weaving his fingers up into her hair, pushing her, contorting her body, to fit his need.

His desire.

She fisted the sheets beneath her as she heard her her pulse pounding in her ears, every piece of skin he touched vibrating, making her come alive, her senses race.

She was forced up onto her hands and knees seconds later, his free hand gripping and pulling her underwear down her thighs, the other busily working on his own. His length poked her leg as he positioned it, the swollen head brushing against her before he slipped inside, making her cry out at the sudden, unwarned, intrusion.

He groaned softly as he forced himself all the way in, rolling his hips, his movements slow as if to savor the feeling.

To engrave it into his memory.

The muscles inside her body drew tight, churning and flexing almost painfully from the unexpected amount of pleasure as he sped up, his hands roaming her body, pushing her hair out of the way as his hands slid down her back, nails piercing her skin before stopping at her hips, pulling them back to match his speed.

It ended as quickly as it had begun and she found herself flying, floating away on the continuous throes of ecstasy he forced upon her, drawing and stretching them out until she was shaking.

With a groan he emptied inside of her, hot, sticky spurts setting her insides on fire as he withdrew, falling loudly onto the bed beside her.

He didn't move when she turned, cuddling up against him, his slow, even breathing letting her know he was fast asleep as she lifted his arm up over her, pulling up the blankets.

'He really is a beautiful man...' she thought, her eyes straining against the darkness as her gaze rolled over his relaxed features, her fingers brushing lightly down his cheek.

He looked so much younger when he was asleep.

So different.

Yawning, she let her eyes drop, gazing over at him one last time before they fell shut.

She couldn't believe it...

she smiled, moving her head over to rest against his shoulder, feeling his hand flutter against her back, pulling her closer and dropping a small, sleepy kiss onto her cheek.

...Sheldon...

...he was finally hers.

xxxxxxxxx

Sheldon stood at the foot of the bed for a moment before turning and retrieving his discarded clothes that laid in a pile in the middle of his floor, bending over and scooping up Penny's as well, folding them into a neat little pile before slipping his shirt over his head and doing up his.

Penny was finally his...

A strange fluttering feel erupted in his stomach, starting deep only to rise and spread, ending up in his hands, his fingers itching to reach out and touch her skin or brush her hair from her face...

...but he decided against it, figuring she was probably tired and needed her sleep.

Sighing, he backed away, turning and glancing at her over his shoulder as he inched open the door and slipped out, making his way down the hall towards the bathroom.

xxxxxxxxx

Penny woke alone, casting her eyes in panic towards the window, feeling herself relax as she realizes it was still dark, the bright neon numbers of the alarm clock casting a slight blue hue against the bed side table it was set on.

12:39

"God..." she groaned, flopping back down onto her back, reaching up and turning on the lamp that hung from the wall beside Penny.

'Where could Sheldon be...?'

Did he not want to see her?

Was he regretting what they'd done?

Shaking her head she pushed herself up, leaning against the pillows as she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands in an attempt to push the worries down and out of her mind.

'It'll do no good to obsess over something that maybe not even be true.' She reasoned, nodding to herself in agreement.. "He's probably just in the bathroom."

Distracting her mind she let her eyes wander, casting slowly around his childhood room, examining the posters and chalkboard that littered the walls as she stood, walking over to one of book shelves and leaning close, skimming over the titles of the books and comics.

She stepped back, looking on in amusement as she marveled at how much it resembled his room back home.

From the posters and books...right down to the star wars bed sheets.

Her nose crinkled as she looked down at them, feeling oddly exposed as one of the giant Darth Vader heads stared up at her.

She'd always hated those sheets.

A soft sigh filled the room as she sat back down on Sheldon's bed, her attention drifting down to her hands, focusing on the makeshift ring wrapped around her finger as she twisted it around, attempting to read the fading scribbles.

She was curious.

"He can make another one..." she decided.

Giving in she pulled it off her finger, unraveling it and smoothing it over her thighs, starting to read, the small grin that played on her face slowly falling, her eyebrows pulling togather.

"Asked subject to accompany me home," she read. "implying that I felt it time to return. She agreed as expected. Experiment begun as of, December 21st, 9:00 pm."

'...experiment?'

Her stomach dropped as her eyes scanned over the page, flipping it over and continuing to read every detail from the past few days.

It seemed he had written down everything.

How she moved, how she smelled, how she acted around him...even her appetite and visits to the bathroom.

her suddenly heavy head.

So...that's all she was.

An experiment.

Yes, she knew he had done this before in the past, like the time he tried training her like a dog, but...those had always been so subtle and short lived.

Not really doing any damage except flaring up Penny's anger whenever Leonard had had enough and ratted him out.

But...this time...

Slowly, she lowered the paper clenched in her hands, letting it fall from her grasp and onto the floor, skidding across the polished wood as if floating.

...this time he had messed with her heart.

Her already frayed motions.

Jumping up she hurried over to his dresser, pausing for a moment, her hand posed over the neatly folded pile of clothes, staring down at them as her vision blurred from unshed tears.

She dressed in a flurry before running over to the guest room and throwing all her belongings back into her suitcase and zipping it up, not even caring as she caught her finger, pulling it out with a low hiss.

She left that night.

Not really knowing where she was going when she stepped out the front door she turned the direction she and Sheldon had gone the day they went to the beach, closing her eyes at the memories that crashed, unwanted, into her mind.

There had to be a bus station somewhere.

All she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her own bed.

Hopefully leaving her broken heart behind in Texas.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I know tthis is short and really takes the story nowhere, but I wanted to give you all an update because I felt like I was losing focus :) takes a special kind of idiot to start a new story while already writing one, but do not fear, I will not abandon it. :)**

**Sense I am such an awesome person I'll make you a deal. **

**The deal is, if anybody can tell me what show the italics are from and who said them...I will dish out another chapter tonight with a...pretty damn big twist. :P**

**Love you all and enjoy!**

**xxxxxxxxx **

She let her suitcase fall against her door, uncaring as it's thud echoed around her, crawling its way down the stairs as she stared down at it for a moment before she reached into her bag and pulled out her keys, her hand freezing, mid turn, as the door behind her was pulled open.

"Your home." Leonard's voice said, sounding wide awake despite the ungodly hour, the sun barely peeking up over the building across the street when Penny trudged into the building moments before.

She let her head fall, the cool wood of her door sending a flush of relief as it brushed against the heated skin of her forehead, her eyes closing as she took a deep, calming breath before turning.

"Yeah. I am." She said, hoping her voice was light and happy as she faced her neighbor, arms spread out at her sides, finding some unexpected comfort in his familiar appearance and actions, the familiar smell that floated through his opened door over towards Penny.

Green tea and cucumbers.

"How was Nebraska?" He asked, smiling over at her as he crossed his arms across his chest. She shrugged in response, wanting nothing more then to end this conversation and hide.

To wallow in her own self pity.

"Cold." She said simply, chuckling awkwardly and letting the still silence drop over the two with quiet happiness, hoping he'd get the point.

She watched through tired eyes as he swayed from foot to foot, looking over at her with those dark, puppy dog eyes she had once melted for, but now found herself unmoved, all but numb as she stared back into them.

"Whelp..." she said suddenly, gesturing a hand over her shoulder. "Imma go in. It's been a long couple days."

"Yeah, yeah." Leonard said in a hurry, nodding slowly as he watched her turn and shove her door open, bending over to collect her belongs that laid on the ground at her feet. "You want any help?"

"Nope." She said simply, not turning to face him. "I got it. See you later, Leonard."

She collapsed against the door as it was slammed shut, slowly letting herself slide own onto the ground and dropping her head into her hands.

"Damn him..." she heard herself mumble as hot tears brimmed in her eyes, refusing to be held back any longer. "Stupid idiot..."

xxxxxxxxx

She opened her third bottle of wine, kicking the magazines and other clutter off her coffee table as she took her seat back on her couch, pouring the burgundy liquid with tingling hands, feeling it dribble over the rim and down her arm.

But she didn't care.

Why should she?

Instead she just raised the mug to her lips and gulped, her eyes glued on the screen before her as she flipped back on the show, watching through clouded eyes as the small man drew close, the girl stepping back as he reached out, her hand barely brushing his before it was pulled away.

_"I know I am not the kind of husband young girls dream of..."_ he said, eyes falling to the ground beneath his feet. Penny felt herself move closer, drawn in by his words as she scooted to the edge of her seat, cup clenched tight against her pounding heart. _"I am not tall, or brave...I am not the knight you probably dreamed of marrying. but...I do hope one day you might actually learn to trust me. Maybe even love me.."_

Footsteps drew her eyes away, forcing her attention onto the door at her side as they came closer and closer...until they stopped.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

Only two other people ever stopped on their floor and didn't continue up the next flight of stairs, and one was already home, most likely watching some nerd movie she would never make it through without falling asleep.

Silently, on unsteady feet, she stood, feeling her way along the back of the couch as she made her walked over, squinting an eye shut as the other peeked out the peephole, feeling a lump grow deep within her throat as she looked out at the man she had spent the last two days falling in love with, watching him stand in the middle of the floor, head and eyes cast down, arms hanging limply at his side as the harsh hall lights shone down onto him almost like a spotlight.

Her heart sped as his head turned, his eyes settling on her door, his gaze meeting hers as if he knew she were there, staring right back at him. She stepped away as he stepped forward, finding him at her door when she gathered up enough courage to return, her eyes rolling over his paled face, his hand raised in the air, poised to knock.

But...he didn't, instead he slowly lowered it, pressing his palm into the doors fading paint as his head bowed out of view.

_"I am malformed, scarred, and small,"_ the man's voice echoed from the tv behind her, his tone now soft, almost saddened. _"But I am generous. Loyal to those who are loyal to me. I've proven I'm no craven. And I am cleverer than most, surely wits count for something. I can even be kind. Kindness is not a habit with my family, I fear, but I know I have some somewhere. I could be... I could be good to you."_

She wished to God she was wrong.

That...all of this was a misunderstanding and he really did care about her.

Even just a little bit.

He may not be athletic or fully understand human emotuons...he may even be a little lost in the whole scheme of the world...

Letting out a small sob she lowered her head, placing her temple and cheek against the door, her hand dropping to the handle, her eyes falling shut.

But, heaven help her...

...she loved that man.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Ding, Ding, Ding! Tryion Lannister from GoT, the most awesomest of Lannisters if I may be so bold! 3**

**Congrats to everyone who got it right! Just proves how awesome you guys are!**

**I'm so sorry I didn't get it up sooner, there were bad storms for the last couple days, tornados everywhere. A total mess. But...:) here you go, the twist I promised.**

**Redsakuranbo: the day Penny left Amy called and made up the excuse that she was going to Nebraska instead of with Sheldon to Texas. I'm just taking the leap that Amy told Leonard during the days they were gone. :)**

**Enjoy!**

**xxxxxxxxx **

Nothing had been the same.

Their lives were now filled with icy silences and sideway glances...awkward moments when they found themselves in the same room and had no way to exit.

Sheldon sighed as his eyes ran over the flashing tv, the bright, dripping letters that were sprawled across the screen telling him he had died.

Yes...

...that is exactly how he felt.

Scowling, he set the controller down onto the cushion beside him, his eyes rising in time to see his roommate exit his room and make his way down the hall, straightening the cuff of his sleeve before pulling his jacket down over it, one of his hands smoothing hair.

"How do I look?" he asked, his eyebrows pulled together, his expression worried. Sheldon shrugged, still not understanding why it was so common for people he knew to just to asked how they looked and not expand.

He needed clarity.

Specifics.

Did they not know him at all?

Not like he really cared how Leonard looked or where he was off to...or who he was going to wherever he was going to with.

His eyes wandered before he could catch them, drifting over to the door to his right, wishing, beyond his total comprehension, that Penny would come strolling through, turning his life upside down as she ripped through the apartment like a hurricane as she had always seemed to do.

But, she didn`t. And he knew why.

He wasnt as dense as he led everyone on to believe.

He had found Penny's ring opened and discarded under his bookshelf when he returned back to his room, silently kicking himself as he realized 'of course she would open it'.

It WAS Penny after all.

But...it just seemed the right thing to do to make a ring from the notes he had made in his quest to bond them...as if silently letting her know of all the effort and care and research he had put in to her, and their budding relationship, to make it real.

That, to him at least, was very, as Penny and all of his other friends would say, 'Romantic'.

'This is exactly why romance is unneeded.' he thought bitterly, watching Leonard stroll across the room and into the kitchen, holding the small mirror magnet from the fridge up as he tried to see how he looked, bending and contorting in all sorts of ridiculous positions. 'You become...soft and careless."

"I thought that, ya know, since we had time apart, I`d ask Penny to go out tonight."

From across the room Sheldon's jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they dropped, his tongue stabbing the inside of his cheek in a, soon to fail, attempt at remaining quiet.

"You look like your going to a funeral." he said, his voice tight, as he stood and made his way into the kitchen, banging around loudly as he looked through the shelf of mugs, pulling one down and setting it softly down onto the counter before speaking again. "And, that aside, it is six o`clock on a weekday...Penny is most likey still at work."

For a moment Leonard was quiet, only deciding to speak when Sheldon looked over, meeting his eyes.

"I`m still going over to ask." he mumbled, ducking his head and pulling his shoulders in as he brushed passed his friend. "Despite what you seem to have brought yourself to believe, you can`t know everything."

"Actually, I can." Sheldon found himself calling at his back as Leonard exited the apartment. "And I do."

xxxxxxxxxx

Penny felt very out of place as she sat in the doctors office, still dressed in her cheesecake uniform, feeling the days worth of steam and sweat itching at her skin despite having wiped down her arms and face before arriving.

She had just finished the last of the halfway decent, year old magazines, that were spread out on the small table at her feet when her head rose, watching as the receptionist appeared through the window a few feet away, gesturing her over with a flick of her meaty finger. Gathering up her belongings she hurried over, blowing some of her hair from her eyes as she turned her attention down to the small woman.

"Yes?"

"Ma`am, it says here that you have no health insurance."

Slowly, Penny nodded, her eyebrows pulling together. "Yeah, I..." she trailed off when the receptionist turned away, leaning over to fumble around in her drawers.

"We can`t help you than, I`m afraid." she said as she straightened, thrusting a small piece of pink paper into Penny unsuspecting hands. "There`s an ER downstairs that will take you."

"Oh..." Penny said, dropping her eyes to the paper she was holding, not really knowing what was happening and suddenly feeling very overwhelmed. "Okay...downstairs?"

"First floor...under the sign that says 'ER'."

Holding back a sneer she nooded and turned away, walking out the heavily painted yellow door and down the hall to the elevators, pressing the down button as she hoised her bag futher up her shoulder.

Her stomach felt like it was turning in on itself.

She heaved a long sigh as the elevator gave a soft 'ding' the doors sliding open and waiting for her to enter.

'What am I going to do...' she couldnt help but think as the doors shut, her eyes casting down to the filthy rug below her. 'What am I going to do..."

xxxxxxxxxx

Eventually, Penny found herself seated on a chilled, plastic bed that squeaked whenever she dared to adjust herself, the mint green painted walls that surrounded her turning her stomach even more as she tilted her head up, her eyes staring ahead at the woman that stood a few feet away, watching her scribbling, at a remarkable pace, on her stained clipboard.

"We`ll just have to run a few blood tests." the doctor said when she finally looked up, pulling the blood pressure cup off Penny`s arm, allowing her to finally smooth down the crinkled edges of the paper gown draped over the shoulder and arms, trying to smile back as she received the doctor's small smile, meant to be reassuring, Penny assumed, but dulled by the freezing air that bit at her exposed skin. "Don`t worry. It`s all a routine process."

Nodding, she watched the woman turn and exit, leaving her alone once again with only the gentle buzzing of her phone tucked away in her bag, drawing her attention only to lose it as she decided she didnt care and laid back.

She...had a bad feeling.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Damn..." he heard Leonard mumble again from his side, turning his head slightly to look over at his mop headed roommate, feeling the warm glow of satisfaction flush across his skin as he pretended to watch the movie playing.

"Is she not answering?"

"No...and it`s the eighth time I`ve called."

Sheldon shrugged, trying his best to seem detatched. Disinterested. "She`s probably still at work-"

"I called them. They said she left early today."

He felt himself scowl at Leonard`s words, an uneasy feeling bubbling in his stomach as he shifted in his seat.

Penny never left work early.

She needed the money more than she needed air.

Clearing his throat he stood and made his way to the hall, making the excuse of using the bathroom before slipping into his room and pulling his phone off the charger, scanning quickly through his contacts.

It rang twice before Penny picked up, something that surprised him.

'She always waited until at least the fourth to answer.'

Even if the phone was sitting right in her hand at the time.

"Penny?" he asked when nobody spoke, wondering if perhaps she had picked up without even realizing.

Silence.

"Penny...talk to me."

xxxxxxxx

When the woman returned she was smiling, an envelop in her hand, her whole demure causing Penny`s fear to skyrocket even further and she stepped up, taking a seat on the small rolling stool at her feet.

"There`s good news." she began, pulling the clipboard off the counter and placing it in her lap, flipping a few pages over before continuing. "All your tests are normal. Your in perfect health."

"Okay, so than...why am I feeling so shitty?" she asked, feeling herself shrug, not really understanding.

"You`re pregnant."

Penny was dumbfounded.

Her mind seeming to fizzle out as she stared ahead at the doctor, blank faced and confused. Slowly, her head started to shake.

"No, no, no." she chuckled humorlessly. "The tests have to be wrong..." she leaned close, as if revealing a secret. "I can`t be pregnant."

"Have you had sex sense your last menstural cycle?"

Silence.

"Well...yeah, but just once and it wasnt like...SEX...it was just..." she was grasping now, tripping over her words in an attempt to find a loop hole.

A way out of the inevitable truth.

Taking the hint, the woman stood and placed the envelope beside Penny, touching her shoulder lightly.

"Congradulations."

"Yeah..." her voice was soft, her mind a thousand miles away. "Thanks."

She heard the door beside her click softly shut and, only then, did her mind start to work again, thoughts rushing.

Beside her her phone started buzzing again.

This time she reached over, not even glancing at the name before pressing answer.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: By far the longest chapter I've ever written! :) **

**Enjoy and...try not to hate me too much. Lol.**

**xxxxxxxxx **

"Penny...please talk to me."

His voice was like honey in her ear as she cradled the phone against her cheek. His soft tone flowing over her, send her heart into a rampage against her chest.

"I care about you...you've made that you don't I do, but...I assure you, it's true."

That was all he said before it dropped silent again, just the sound of his slow, even breaths to let her know she was still there.

She wanted to say something. Wanted to let him know she was there and felt the same, but...something kept her back.

Holding her back from speaking.

From telling him that she still loved him. Still wanted to be his friend...

She wanted to scream it out into the world.

But no.

Her tongue was tied.

"I'm not giving up Penny." He sighed, their line crackling from the bad connection, distorting his words. "I've worked to hard to get you."

That is when the line clicked dead, leaving utter, deafening silence in its wake.

She wasn't worthy.

'I'm damaged...' she couldn't help the voice that bit in her mind, one of her hands dropping down to rest on the dip of her belly, yet to be touched by pregnancy.

She was not right for Sheldon. Anyone could see that.

He deserved someone smart with a degree or two, not someone who just barely finished highschool. A genius who shared his likes and dislikes. Who understood all those million dollar words he always seemed able to spit out without having to spend an hour and a half on Google.

Someone...more like him.

Feeling her eyes water she let her phone fall from her hand, watching as it crashed and shattered against the floor at her feet, glass and plastic skidding across the tiles as she turned, making her way out.

Thoroughly done with it.

All of it.

xxxxxxxxx

'Penny's was gone again.'

Sheldon noted as he stared across the coffee table at her, small hands in her lap, clasped loosely around one of the folded white boxes, a thin string of steam rising up into the air from where Leonard had popped it open, hoping the smell would encourage her to eat.

But, she didnt.

Instead she just sat there, shoulders straight, head bowed, her heavily lidded eyes downcast, staring at nothing.

Beside her Leonard leaned in, slipping a pair of chopsticks between her fingers, urging her with sweetly coated words whispered in her ear to eat.

Just one bite.

"What does everybody want to do tonight?" He suddenly heard Amy quip, coming up to Sheldons side and pertching herself on the arm, turning her body in such a way to give him an unmistakable view of her newest shirt.

Tight, dark and low cut.

He didn't even acknowledge it.

Not even when she leaned over, all but shoving heat it bared into his face.

"You know," he looked up at Penny's voice. "I think I'm gonna go home."

'No...please don't..."

"No, stay Penny." Leonard said, catching hold of her hand when she stood, a hand she easily brushed off as she stepped over Howard and Bernadette's feet on her way to the door, whispering her apologies.

All eyes were on the door as she disappeared, watching it close behind her softly without another word, the dull thud of her own door closing seconds later, echoing through the silence.

"She's just tired." Leonard said, more to himself then the others, their eyes shifting over to settle on him, watching as he stared at where she had once been, her scent still seeming to linger. "She had a long day."

Slowly, Sheldons eyes lowered back down to his food, pushing it around idily, his appetite suddenly evading him.

'Leonard is either disillusioned or a fool.' His mind mumbled, resisting every nerve in his body that screamed, itched to rise and go to her.

To travel across the short distance that separated them and comfort her.

Make everything okay once again.

xxxxxxxxx

Penny stood before the tall, floor length mirror in her bathroom, shirt rolled up and tucked under her bra as she hesitantly turned from side to side, examining her body from every angle she could, her hand sliding down and stroking across her belly.

She wouldn't be able hide it for much longer, She realized with a quickening of her heart, her fingers splaying across the tightened skin.

Most of her clothes didn't even fit around her mid section anymore.

"Penny?"

The sudden voice took her by surprise, whirling around in time to see Amy stroll through her bedroom door, her eyes casting around in search of her friend. "Are you here?"

"Yeah." She called in reply, pulling down her shirt and hurriedly wiping the tears from her cheeks before opening the door and forcing a smile. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if everything was okay." She said, tilting her head slightly as she scrutinized Penny. "Sheldon and I were worries."

"Oh."

Sheldon was worried about her?

Hope.

"Speaking of Sheldon, I was wondering if you could drive him to work in the morning. I have a student coming in early to learn the I won't be able to."

'Oh.' She thought, her spirits dropping like a ton of bricks. 'That's why he was worried.'

He needs something.

"Uh..." penny stalled, pursing her lips, her eyes wandering, hoping Amy would suddenly, for some unknown reason, change her mind and decide she would be able to take him.

But, she didn't.

"Yeah, sure." She finally answered, shaking her head and waving her hand dismissively. "Six o'clock as always."

"Yes. And thank you, Penny." Her friend said, one of her arms extending to place her hand gently onto Penny's shoulder. "I don't know what's going on with you and Leonard...and I don't need to if it's private, but...it'll be okay."

Penny watched a small, reassuring smile pull at her lips.

"You and Leonard are meant to be together."

For some reason those words shredded Penny.

Ripping her apart from the inside out as she struggled to keep the smile upon her lips.

"Thanks, Amy...that means a lot."

xxxxxxxxx

He found himself pacing again and frowned.

He hated how Penny always seemed to make him pace.

She was always such a bother...

'Oh, shut up.' His inner voice suddenly snapped. 'You're not fooling anyone.'

Sighing he turned his head, casting his attention over to the click that hung from the wall, watching the seconds blink by.

5:50

Ten minutes.

He couldn't help the small flutter that started in his stomach as he realized that in ten minutes he would get to see Penny. To actually be alone with her, even if only for a brief time. Maybe she would actually speak to him again.

Not speaking most likely being the more prominent option for her he figured.

That girl could hold a grudge like no one else.

Groaning softly to himself he sat back onto the couch, letting his head fall into his awaiting hands, feeling the pleasant fluttering in his stomach suddenly turn sour as fear took its place.

Fear of another awkward moment with the person he loved most.

The person who hated him just as much.

xxxxxxxxx

She stared across, longingly, at her coffee pot as she sipped at her apple juice, wishing, more than anything, that she could walk over and turn it on.

But no.

Her eyea dropped down to her protruding belly, hidden skillfully, at least to her, under one of her dad's baggy shirts she had accidentally packed when she left home.

She sighed as she reached over, pulling a piece of dry toast from the plate next to her on the coffee table, hoping it would settle her churning stomach as she nibbled, unwilling to risk getting sick when Sheldon was with her.

She glanced over at the clock one last time, pushing herself up and pulling on her jacket only to stand at door a few seconds before exiting and walking the small distance across the hall.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Sheldon."

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Sheldon."

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Sheldon."

She smiled softly to herself only to wipe it away when the door was pulled open, the warm feeling of nostalgia dissipating like steam as his eyes met hers, rolling slowly over her from head to toe, scowling as he took in her less than expected fashion choice.

"Are you sure you want to wear all that?" He said, not moving from the doorway, watching as she looked down at her body, as if forgetting what she had put on only moments before. "It's going to be eighty degrees today."

She shrugged in reply, only having the courage to lift her eyes to his shirt, tracing the lightening bolt that ran down its reddened surface.

"I was cold."

He stepped close, reaching out and grabbing her arm as she tried to move away, his long fingers easily wrapping around her elbow as his free hand rose, pressing lightly against her forehead.

She fought the urge to lean into his gentle touch as his fingers trailed down her temple to her cheek.

"Your burning up, Penny." His voice was soft, his minty breath fanning across her face, forcing her eyes closed as her heart quickened at the feeling of his skin against hers.

"Penny."

The voice was like a nails against a chalk board as it cut through the moment, melting it away into a pool at her feet as her eyes looked around Sheldon, catching sight of Leonard from where he stood beside the couch, the oddest look taking place on his face.

"Hey Leonard." She said, smiling weakly, watching Sheldon's jaw clench out of the corner of her eye, his crystal eyes narrowing as he hesitantly dropped his hand and let it fall to his side, slowly turning to face his roommate.

xxxxxxxxx

"What are you doing here this early." He asked coming to wedge himself between Penny and Sheldon, only fueling the fire burning inside him as his eyes racked over her clothes. "What're you wearing?"

The distaste was evident in his tone as he spoke.

He watched Penny's false smile fall as he stepped back, her eyes once again drifting down to her outfit, her delicate eyebrows pulling together.

"Nothing really..." she replied in a small voice, her arms raising slightly at her sides. "I kinda just rolled out of bed."

Sheldon looked down and watched his roommate nod, hoisting his backpack onto his shoulder.

"What are you doing here so early anyway?"

"Amy asked if I could take Sheldon to work this morning. She had a student coming in early or something."

Silence.

"Oh...okay." he finally said, shrugging. "Sorry you had to get up so early. I would have but I'm going out on assignment today."

'Yeah, sure you are.'

He watched Penny nod, her eyes darting over Leonard's head to Sheldon before quickly returning.

"Well...we'd better go." She said, slapping her hands against her thighs, a non-convincing smile falling onto her lips. "Don't wanna be late."

"Yeah, of course." Leonard hurried, his hand coming out and resting against Penny's shoulder as he leaned forward, seem to missing the female before him weakly try and turn away, Sheldon's blood heated, the muscles in his stomach clenching as he watched his roommate's kiss land awkwardly in the corner of her mouth before he was elbowed away, shoved off to the side as Sheldon took his place beside Penny, gently turning her and leading her out into the hall.

The slam of 4B's door drifted throughout the building.

xxxxxxxxx

Penny was surprised by Sheldons expression as he walked ahead of her, his jaw clenched, hands balled at his aides, eyes glaring down at the carpeted floor as he started his way down the second flight of stairs. She could almost smell the smoke flooding from his ears as his mind churned.

It remained silent until Penny cleared her throat.

"How was Amy this morning?" She asked, hoping it might lighten his mood. Instead, it seemed to make it worse.

"Annoying."

She scowled at his back, her breath growing heavy as she tried to keep his pace, wishing he would slow.

"She's not annoying."

"You don't have her shoving her...female parts into your face every time your within spitting distance."

She couldn't help the small smirk that spread across her face, her head tilting to the side.

"I thought you'd like that."

He whirled around, jerking to a stop where he stood a few feet away, sending her up what could only be described as a death glare. His nose crinkled slightly as his light eyes narrowed, his mouth setting into a tight, straight line.

"Penny-"

"I know. I know." She sighed as she strolled passed him. "There are some things you don't kid, Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper PhD, about. I've heard this speak before."

"If you heard it so many times why do you always insist on doing it." She heard him mumble from behind her, forcing a small chuckle to pass her lips as she heard his steps start up again, following.

Maybe...maybe things would be okay after all.

xxxxxxxxx

"I don't have to go into work today." He said, causing her to look briefly from the road over to the man seated in the passenger seat. She felt herself scowl.

"Amy said you did..."

"There is work today, yes..." he clarified, his head turning to look at her. "But I don't have to go in. I could call in sick."

"But your not sick." She pointed out as she shook her head, earning a sigh.

"I'd lie."

She let out a sharp, exaggerated gasp, startling him.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper? Lying?!" She breathed, widening her eyes.

"Do you realize you've used full name twice already today?" He said, his voice without humor.

"You can't bail, Sheldon." She said, shaking her heavy head. "Your a genius, not a waitress."

"I think you just don't want to spend time with me."

He dropped an unexpected bomb, catching Penny off guard and vaulnerable, staring ahead, silently, at the road until she recovered, her jaw setting.

"Well not anymore." She snapped, pulling tightly out of traffic, into the college's parking lot.

"What's that supposed to mean."

"It means you always ruin everything." She mumbled, pulling up to the curb and stopping. "We're here. You can go now."

"Why are you pushing me away."

It wasn't a question.

It was demand.

"I'm not. I'm merely telling you that were at your destination-"

"I already said I was sorry months ago." He interrupted. "You should be over it by now."

He didn't have to explain.

She knew what he was referring to.

"I am over it."

"Your nostrils flared."

"STOP STARING AT MY NOSE!" She yelled, slamming her hands down onto the steering wheel, feeling it vibrate down her arms and into her shoulders. "It's not that easy! There are other factors, Sheldon!"

"Other factors?" His voice was tight, angry. "What other factors? That you walked out in the middle of the night leaving me with no idea where you were or if you were okay? If I can get over that, you should be able to get over what I did."

"What you did was worse!"

"What? Letting you know I care about you?"

"Using me, idiot! And now...I'm stuck!"

For a moment he dropped silence, dumbfounded.

"How are you stuck?"

"I...just..." her voice softened, slowly trailing off into silence. "Nothing. Nevermind."

"Your not telling me something."

"Did my nose tell you that!"

"What aren't you telling me."

"Nothing!"

"PENNY!"

That was the first time she had ever heard him yell, at least at her, his voice sounding even louder in the close confounds of her car.

Her head spun, her wide eyes landing on his face, anger raging in his now icy eyes.

She bolted from the car without a word, starting across the heated asphalt as he stepped from the car, easily catching up to her.

"Tell me!"

"There's nothing to tell!" She heard herself yell, shoving her hands against his chest as he reached out, pulling her into her arms as he stumbled back.

"Let me go!" She hissed, struggling against his strength, his hands losing their grip and landing on her waist, the heels of his hands digging into her hard, swollen belly.

She felt him stiffen as she froze, her eyes, staring ahead at nothing. Fear slowly taking over her body.

Suddenly, he pulled back, pushing her to arms length before reaching down and yanking up her shirt, slapping her hands away when she tried to intervene and push her shirt back into place.

Slowly, she watched the anger melt from his face being replaced with shock...the glimmer of awe brimming deep in his eyes as he shifted one of his hands slightly, his finger tips stroking across her belly with a feather like touch.

Before she could think she spoke, the words falling from her lips like hot coals.

"It's Leonard's..."

His hand disappeared, yanked away as if he'd been burned, pulling back to his body as his eyes rose to meet hers, his eyebrows pulling together in the most confused way she had ever seen from him.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon..."

He didn't say a word as his eyes dropped, pulling down her shirt before stepping away, brushing off her hand as it reached towards him.

Silence.

He cleared his throat, opening his mouth as if to speak, but closed it before turning and making his way into the college, leaving Penny with nothing to do but stare after him.

Movement made her attention shift, her eyes turning in time to see Howard and Raj a few yards away, their eyes meeting before they turned away, pretending to be doing something other than Penny and Sheldon's friendship crumble and fall apart.

Lowering her eyes she walked back to her car and got in, letting her head fall, her forehead striking the steering wheel as she cursed herself.

Ripped herself apart.

How could she be so stupid.

Why didn't she just tell him the truth!

"You...are such a failure." She whispered, her eyes burning, tears trickling down her cheeks.

An utter and complete failure.


	16. AN

I would just like to take a moment to address some of the recent reviews and pm's I've gotten for this story.

Its been brought to my attention lately that here is too much angst between Sheldon and Penny. And, yes, there is, idk why, that's just how all my stories seem to turn out. I do try to include comedy, I honestly do, but...heartbreak just sorta creeps in.

Always.

That's just the kinda person I am. I feel that struggle brings people closer. Makes the long awaited romance and happy ending they receive just that much sweeter and unexpected.

And yes, there will ALWAYS be a happy ending to my stories :) even if it doesn't seem like it through most of the chapters.

The other part brought to my attention: The miscommunication.

I have always felt that, if Sheldon and Penny ever did engage in an relationship, that there would be a lot of miscommunication. Not because they don't WANT to communicate and understand eachother, but...take Sheldon for example, he has a very hard time reading others emotions and putting his own out there for others to read.

Big problem.

And Penny, she's just so bull headed sometimes she wouldn't really express what pissed her off. Kinda like 'If you don't know what you did to irritate me than I can't help you'.

At least that's how I have always perceived her.

And, she's also a slightly different person in this story, more meek and scared towards somethings.

Sheldon being one of them.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is...Penny isn't trying to hurt Sheldon. In anyway. She just doesn't know how to handle any of this and, therefore, goes about trying to handle it in almost all the wrong ways.

I can't summarize uo her situation any better than that she's scared and spiraling and that she's not used to anybody being there to be there for her and pull her back, thus why she's pushing our beloved Sheldon away.

But, never fear, everything will settle itself out and become right again. :) it always does.

Besides, everybody knows their made for eachother.

I hope I've explained it at least a little and you aren't so fed up (?) As before.

As always, thank you for your love, good or bad, it shows you care and want to expand your view on this story and not just throw your hands up and say 'fuck it'.

This is by far the most popular story I have ever posted, something I never even expected to happen when I started it, and I have only you guys to thank for that.

And even though I doubt anyone will actually read this, I would just like to say thank you.

I am humbled by your continued support.

Also, I am currently writing the next chapter so it'll be up soon! :)


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Sooooo...I know it's been awhile and I'm really sorry. There's really no excuse for my absence except that I let negative reviews get into my head and psych me into an extreme, and slightly worrisome, writers block. But...I got back and, although it may be short, I promise another is on its way soon this was only part of the original chapter.

Thanks for your kind words and sticking with it and, as always, enjoy! :)

xxxxxxxxx

"Penny's pregnant."

The words hit his eardrums like a rocket, seeming to knock him back momentarily as he pushed open the apartment door, finding Howard and Raj hovering over Leonard who was seated at his desk, his fingers poised over his laptop.

"Oh dear lord." He snapped without thought, slamming his keys down into the bowl that sat on the table beside the door and starting forward, dropping his bag down into his desk.

This was the one thing he didn't want to hear about. Or even think about.

Although, all day at work, he had.

Tormenting himself.

"Penny's...pregnant?"

Leonard's words were whispered, disbelievingly, causing Sheldon to roll his eyes as he pulled open the fridge, leaning down to scan its contents.

"How do you..." he heard his roommate shift, swiveling his chair around to face their friends. "...did she tell you?"

"Not...exactly." he heard Howard reply, his words slow, his tone thoughtful. "We over heard Sheldon and Penny this morning in the university's parking lot."

"Sheldon was there?"

He could almost feel Leonard's eyes on him, but refused to look up, keeping his head planted inside the fridge.

"Yeah, they were having some sort of argument."

It fell silent and he found himself staring, unseeing, at the shelves before him, knowing full well he would have to stand up sooner or later.

He opted for later.

"Sheldon?" Leonard's voice called, feeling his dark eyes boring into his back as Sheldon straightened his spine, pulling himself upright, his hands resting atop the short, metallic refrigerator door beside him.

"Yes." He asked, not having to dig very deep to pull out the disinterested tone that shadowed his words.

"What were you two arguing about this morning?" His eyes screamed suspicion as they rolled over Sheldon, as if summing him up, narrowing as his friend raised his shoulders in a short, quick shrug.

"We always argue."

He watched as Leonard rose from his seat, slowly making his way across the tiled floor as he came to stand before his friend.

"Not in public."

"When are Penny and I ever in public together really." He shot back, the tone in Leonard's voice only fueling his anger.

"A lot more than I'm comfortable with now that you being it up."

Sheldon felt his eyes narrow in reply to his words, his feet squaring off as his hands clenched at his sides

"Am I not allowed to be her friend?" He said, his voice low as he struggled to keep the anger bubbling in his stomach from showing, watching the small man before him shrug.

"Can you be her friend?"

Sheldon felt his eyebrows knit together, thoroughly confused as to what Leonard was even talking about anymore.

Of course he could be her friend. He HAD always been her friend.

Even when Leonard had not.

He had never abandoned her as his roommate had always seemed to. Leaving a distraught Penny spokesmen sobbing over an opened bottle of wine while he got his rocks off with some meaningless, nameless girl who he would later deny even knowing.

He had had enough of this conversation and wanted it to end.

"I can not fathom why you are being so snippy towards me when you know damned well that baby isn't mine."

He taken off guard by Leonard's abrupt change of emotion as his bitter laugh filled the space around them.

"Of course it's not yours!" Leonard said, his sure tone, leaving no room for even the slightest bit of doubt, causing his jaw to set tight. "Why would I even think that."

"Is it yours?" Raj suddenly asked, causing Sheldon to raise his head, suddenly reminded of their presents.

'Who else's would it be.' A bitter voice in his head snarled as he bent, pulling one of the waters from the fridge and unscrewing the cap, bringing it to his lips to take an angry gulp.

"No...I mean," he paused to look down, embarrassment written clearly over his scrunched features. "Penny and I haven't had sex in over a year..."

A light flashed before his eyes as his muscles tensed, throat closing as his roommate's disgruntled words reached his ears.

'A...a year...?'

"Aw man..." he barely heard Howard say over the wires shorting out in his mind as it worked over time. Spitting out equations even he was entirely familiar with.

Calculating and cleaning up loose ends, he brushed passed a forlorn Leonard and into his bedroom, slamming his door shut.

xxxxxxxxx

Penny sighed as she stood before the sink, quiet tears running down her cheeks as she scrubbed the already spotless bowl, staring down at her reflection in the tiny bubbles loathingly.

"Your a horrible person, Penny." She sighed, the heart broken look on Sheldons face replaying over and over in her mind like a broken record, sending her spiraling further and further into depression.

He was such a kind guy...ya know...in his own...special, Sheldon-y kinda way.

She had no idea what possessed her to tell him it was Leonard's. She glared down at the soapy water, her grip tightening around the sponge in her hand.

It's not like she wanted it to Leonard's...she didn't even like him that way.

'Who are you kidding. You can hardly even stand the sight of him.'

She was just afraid to be alone.

"Holy hell!" She suddenly yelled, throwing her dripping hands up into the air and walking away into the other room.

Great, now she was using Leonard too?!

She let her head fall, hanging limply from her neck as she stood in the middle of her living room.

'I'm gonna make a terrible mother...'

Slowly her hand came up to mindlessly pat her rounded belly, as if to sooth the unborn baby growing within.

It was only five on the afternoon, but she was already exhausted as she decided to just go to bed and let this day be over with and, it wasn't until she was snug in bed with her covers pulled up to her chin, then there was a knock at the door.

She really didn't remember angered trip to the door when she finally untangled herself from her sheets, casting them aside onto the floor in some sort of rage before stomping down the hall.

"Who the..."

Her words trailed off as she flung it open, suddenly finding herself lost in a bouquet of sweet smelling flower.

"Penny?"

A soft gasp escaped her throat as she stared ahead, her heart thudding in her chest.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Whelp, here it is! I edited this last night, and, as stupid as I am, I exited out of word without saving it...needless to say I was very upset. Lol. i'm sorry if this is short, but, my mind will not work tonight it seems and the heat here is almost unbearable. Never in my 21 years would I have thought the states to be this hot. But, I will give you Yanks one thing...you know how to make some badass fried chicken! Lol. I know, I'm babbling. But ANYWAY, on with the show and, as always you kind words get me through life. Lol! Enjoy!

P.s. Since this story is nearing it end (yes, I know. I am very upset as well. -enter sad face here-) I have decided to start up a new 'Shenny' story. So, if by chance though I seriously doubt it, the chapters on this one start slow do not panic.

THIS STORY WILL BE FINISHED!

Okay, I'm SERIOUSLY gonna go now. Lol. Love you, mates!

xxxxxxxxx

Sheldon stared down at the notepad in his lap, his eyes running quickly over its yellow surface before raising once again to stare at the calculater brought up on his computers homescreen, used to check his math.

It was right.

It was all right.

Not having trusted his roommate to tell the truth he had decided to do his own calculations, and, based on the out come of it all...there was no physical way that Penny`s baby could be Leonard`s. And, barring that Penny had any other...'encounters' either a week before or just days after, that would mean...

Sheldon forced himself to swallow as he shoved his laptop and notepad away, uncaring as he heard it thud sickeningly onto the hard floor, his back striking his headboard causing it to bang noisily against the wall behind him.

For the first time in his life...he didn`t know what to think.

How to feel.

Why would Penny lie and say that it wasnt his and that Leonard was the father? Was she purposly trying to hurt him?

He brushed that thought away with a shake of his head. He knew Penny, although bull headed and irratating, was not capable of doing something so deceitful and heartless out of pure spite.

No.

She had been scared and thought, for some reason, that was the only logical answer. In her eyes he was either: One, Not ready. Or Two, she regretted the child being his.

Sighing, he cast his eyes over to land on the bedroom door, suddenly feeling drained, tired of his thoughts and the worrying for the night. So, before he could think of a reason not to he jumped from his bed, making his way out into the living room where he rushed passed his friends without a word, slamming the door shut in his wake and hurrying down the stairs, mumbling softly to himself.

If Penny didn`t want to tell him the truth right then, it was fine.

He knew she would tell him when the time was right and she was comfortable.

In the meantime, he was going to do everything in his power to prove that he, in fact, was ready.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Once again, Sheldon felt that this was a very bad idea.

Figuring, how he had left her earlier that day, that she was more likely to punch him in throat than anything else.

He had been outside her door for almost fifteen minutes and still hadn't gathered enough courage to knock. Instead, he stood there with his hand poised in the air, staring down at the floor beneath his shifting feet, his grip tightening.

'Odds are she hates me...'

And, in all honesty, he couldn't blame her. He had done her wrong. Abandoned her during a vulnerable time.

He had acted a fool, as all the other men Penny has had in her life seemed to, his temper unneeded and irrational.

'Mother would slap me two ways from Sunday if she ever found out...'

He had an IQ of 187, he should have known better. Slowly, he shook his heavy head, telling himself, once again, that this was necessary.

Yes, there would be yelling. Yes, Penny would probably go 'Junior Rodeo Champion on his ass' as she had threatened to since...around the time they had first met.

He knocked then, raising his hand to watch his whitened knuckles rap against the darkly painted door, not even noticing the short, sharp strokes.

xxxxxxxxx

"I`m coming!" she yelled over the frantic knocking, stomping from her warm covers and out into her living room,the floor holding a bitter chill from the air conditioner that blasted from it`s place in the kitchen window. She pulled her robe tight as she swung her door open with a flick of her wrist, her glaring softing at the sight before her, a lumping rasing in her throat.

She found herself face to face with Sheldon, his head lowered, eyes down cast as he thrust the brightly wrapped bouquet into her unsuspecting hands, wordlessly pulling his hand back almost instantly as if he were afraid she would bite it off.

Silence.

"I'm...s-sorry," Sheldon finally said, his tone tight and anxious, his eyebrows knitting together as he tripped over his words, a pinkened blush crawling up his neck to spread lightly across his cheeks.

'He has about as much trouble apologizing as his mother does...'Penny found herself musing, watching Sheldon's eyes slowly rise.

"I shouldn't have been so cruel to you." He continued, watching as she brought his gift to her nose, inhaling deeply. "Especially at a time like this..."

"Sheldon...I..." she trailed off, finding herself at a lose, unsure of what to say.

Afraid she would say something stupid again and hurt him further.

'I can't hurt him again.'

Never again.

"You don't have to say anything-"

"I should have let what happened in Texas go!" She suddenly said, her words interrupting his and causing him to look up, meeting her eyes in shock as she pulled her arms tight, holding the flowers tight against her chest, the plastic wrapping crunching from the contact. "You were right, you DID apologize. More than once in fact! I should have let it go! Why didn't I let it go?!"

"Penny." His voice was firm then, his arms reaching out to grasp her shoulders, his long fingers wrapping around her arms in a warm familiar way as he turned her around and lead her over to thevcouch, kicking the door shut behind them as he helped her sit.

His eyes held hers as he knelt, his hands dropping away only to fall against her knees, the touch of his skin sending her nerves ablaze as he squeezed gently.

"You need to calm down, Penny. Do you understand me? Breathe."

"I'm sorry..." she sobbed, his words seeming unheard as she, suddenly unable to keep her hands to herself, reached out and cupped his cheeks, pulling his head towards hers to meet her lips, thanking the gods above when he didn't stop it or pull away, instead taking what she offered and returning it with his own. "I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you Sheldon...I'm sorry. I'm so stupid..."

Her voice trailed off at his shaking head, her eyes darting across his face, caressing over his nose, forehead, cheeks...anywhere but his eyes. The eyes she knew were staring over at her through their lashes, holding that look that always seemed to turn her legs to goo.

'God help me...'

xxxxxxxxx

"Penny," he said when her breathing slowed and her hands stopped twisting in her lap, reaching up a hand to brush away some of the golden hair that had fallen from the haphazard bun atop her head down her cheeks to frame her face.

He didn't know why she was apologizing. In his mind, she had nothing to be sorry about.

She had been scared.

That is all.

"You are not the one who should be remorseful," he continued, ducking his head to catch her gaze only to have it elude him once again, casting up above his head to stare at the wall. "I am the one to blame. I am the one who, as I told you before, over reacted and acted in a way that would be a shame to my family."

Silence.

"Yes, it was...quite a shock and a let down. But...I..." he trailed off, digging through his seemingly endless supply of words to find the right one, but finding it a fail as he heaved a sigh.

"A let down?"

Penny's soft voice interrupted his thoughts and drug his attention back up to meet hers, her eyes now lowered and locked with his as her head tilted questioningly.

"Yes." He gave a sharp nod as he spoke. "A let down."

"Why...?" Her words her slow and measured, her tone hesitant, almost reluctant. "No, nevermind. Don't answer that."

"I'm not a creature of emotions." He answered, choosing to ignore her, knowing that this had to be said at one point or another. "It is almost impossible for me to read them and even more so to express them, but, never doubt for a moment that I don't care for you. Because I do."

Silence.

"You care for me...?

Her tear soaked words shocked him, stunning him into silence for a moment before he was able to speak, his head shaking slowly in disbelief.

"Of course I do..." his voice was low and sincere, an unsettling feeling of vulnerability covering him as the words fell from his lips. "You're...my best friend...I..I love you, Penny."


End file.
